Palo Alto Investors LP Acquires New Holdings in CareDx, Inc. $CDNA

Palo Alto Investors LP purchased a new position in CareDx, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNA) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 531,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,158,295,000. CareDx accounts for about 2.1% of Palo Alto Investors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CareDx by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,110,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,703,000 after buying an additional 170,504 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in CareDx by 11.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 133,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,378,000 after acquiring an additional 13,619 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in CareDx by 41.2% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 68,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 20,028 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new position in CareDx in the second quarter valued at $1,822,000. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in CareDx in the second quarter valued at $281,000.

CareDx Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:CDNA opened at $52.36 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.27. The company has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29 and a beta of 2.39. CareDx, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.37 and a 12 month high of $53.67.

CareDx (NASDAQ:CDNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $131.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.05 million. CareDx had a return on equity of 2.87% and a net margin of 24.23%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 52.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.16) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that CareDx, Inc. will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at CareDx

In related news, 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Walter Hanna, Jr. sold 39,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total transaction of $1,166,676.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 661,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,355,681.16. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 114,936 shares of company stock worth $3,770,348. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CDNA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded CareDx from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Craig Hallum upgraded CareDx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded CareDx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. William Blair raised CareDx to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of CareDx in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, CareDx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.75.

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.