Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 1,625,553 Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,625,553 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,398,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.18% of Natera at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, AXS Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 3,070 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.74, for a total value of $594,781.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 58,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,293,298.34. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total transaction of $693,564.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 142,295 shares in the company, valued at $28,984,068.55. This represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,406 shares of company stock valued at $6,984,955. Corporate insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NTRA. BTIG Research reduced their price target on Natera from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. William Blair began coverage on Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 price target on Natera in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.60.

Natera Stock Down 2.0%

NTRA stock opened at $218.81 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $31.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -134.24 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.84. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.81 and a 52 week high of $256.36.

About Natera

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.