Palo Alto Investors LP Makes New Investment in CareDx, Inc. $CDNA

Palo Alto Investors LP acquired a new stake in CareDx, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 531,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,158,295. CareDx makes up 0.0% of Palo Alto Investors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Palo Alto Investors LP owned about 1.03% of CareDx as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CDNA. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of CareDx during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of CareDx in the second quarter worth about $72,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CareDx during the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in CareDx during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in CareDx by 119.1% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 4,026 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CDNA. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of CareDx in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of CareDx from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Craig Hallum raised CareDx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised CareDx from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, William Blair upgraded CareDx to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CareDx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.75.

CareDx Price Performance

Shares of CDNA stock traded down $2.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,176,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 861,138. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.27. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05 and a beta of 2.39. CareDx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.37 and a 52-week high of $53.67.

CareDx (NASDAQ:CDNA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $131.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.05 million. CareDx had a return on equity of 2.87% and a net margin of 24.23%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 52.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.16) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that CareDx, Inc. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CareDx news, Director George Bickerstaff sold 20,000 shares of CareDx stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.28, for a total value of $925,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 134,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,204,343.08. The trade was a 12.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine Cournoyer sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.94, for a total value of $751,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 42,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,015,744.42. This represents a 27.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 114,936 shares of company stock worth $3,770,348 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

CareDx Company Profile

CareDx, Inc (NASDAQ: CDNA) is a precision diagnostics company focused on the care of transplant patients. The firm develops and commercializes non‐invasive tests designed to detect organ transplant rejection and infection risk, helping physicians make informed management decisions throughout the post‐transplant journey.

The company’s core product portfolio includes AlloMap®, a gene expression profiling test for heart transplant recipients, and AlloSure®, a donor‐derived cell‐free DNA assay used primarily in kidney transplant monitoring.