Here’s Why Baron Funds Disposed its Natera (NTRA) Position

Baron Funds, an asset management firm, published its “Baron Global Advantage Fund” first quarter 2022 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. Baron Global Advantage Fund (the “Fund”) declined 22.8% (Institutional Shares), during the first quarter, compared to the 5.4% loss for the MSCI ACWI Index (the “Index”), and the 9.7% loss for the MSCI ACWI Growth Index, the Fund’s benchmarks. Try to spend some time taking a look at the fund’s top 5 holdings to be informed about their best picks for 2022.

In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Baron Global Advantage Fund mentioned Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 2004, Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)  is an Austin, Texas-based clinical genetic testing company with a $3.6 billion market capitalization. Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)  delivered a -59.78% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -64.84%. The stock closed at $37.56 per share on May 02, 2022.

Here is what Baron Global Advantage Fund has to say about Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“Natera, Inc. is a leader in non-invasive prenatal testing whose proprietary technology has also been applied to cancer recurrence detection. Shares dropped 67% during the quarter on disappointing quarterly results and a short report alleging aggressive sales practices. We sold our shares as the inflection point to profitability will take longer to materialize, resulting in heavier cash burn rates than we originally expected.”

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Our calculations show that Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) fell short and didn’t make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) was in 40 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 50 funds in the previous quarter. Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) delivered a -48.41% return in the past 3 months.

In January 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q1 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.