Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Increases Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 36.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,550 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,750 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Natera were worth $8,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in Natera in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 103.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 163 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NTRA. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Natera in a report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research set a $275.00 target price on Natera and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group set a $260.00 price target on Natera in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.33.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $279.32 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.81 and a 1 year high of $279.63. The company has a market capitalization of $40.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -171.36 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $219.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.32.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $4,132,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,250 shares in the company, valued at $1,062,500. This represents a 79.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 41,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.03, for a total value of $9,089,637.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,035,465.29. The trade was a 27.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 175,872 shares of company stock valued at $38,808,996 in the last ninety days. 5.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Natera Company Profile

Natera is a global diagnostics company that develops and commercializes cell-free DNA and other genetic testing technologies for clinical applications. The company focuses on three principal areas: reproductive health (including non-invasive prenatal testing and carrier screening), oncology (tumor-informed assays for minimal residual disease and recurrence monitoring), and organ transplantation (cell-free DNA tests to detect allograft injury). Natera combines laboratory testing, proprietary bioinformatics, and clinical reporting to deliver personalized genetic information to clinicians and patients.

Key product offerings include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for fetal chromosomal abnormalities and select single-gene conditions; Horizon carrier screening for inherited conditions; Signatera, a personalized, tumor-informed assay used for detecting minimal residual disease and monitoring treatment response in cancer patients; and Prospera, a donor-derived cell-free DNA test used to assess the risk of organ rejection.