Strs Ohio Sells 18,756 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Strs Ohio cut its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 28.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,505 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 18,756 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Natera were worth $7,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Natera by 44.3% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,625,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,795,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,263,822 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $277,749,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 44.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,750 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $291,717,000 after buying an additional 532,769 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 149.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 562,985 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $95,111,000 after acquiring an additional 336,985 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Natera by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,937,647 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,346,000 after acquiring an additional 330,696 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 37,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.54, for a total transaction of $9,016,424.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 64,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,552,392.42. This trade represents a 36.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Herm Rosenman sold 48,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.42, for a total value of $11,011,448.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,342 shares in the company, valued at $4,626,177.64. This trade represents a 70.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 501,436 shares of company stock valued at $111,775,823. 5.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on NTRA shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $218.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Natera from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.50.

Natera Trading Down 0.1%

Natera stock opened at $241.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $234.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $192.16. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.38 and a 12 month high of $256.36. The company has a market capitalization of $33.39 billion, a PE ratio of -105.41 and a beta of 1.62.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by ($0.25). Natera had a negative net margin of 14.61% and a negative return on equity of 25.07%. The firm had revenue of $592.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $514.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.26) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Natera 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.