Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stake Lowered by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,113 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 354 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Natera were worth $968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Natera by 26.3% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 31,051 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,942,000 after acquiring an additional 6,467 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank bought a new stake in Natera in the third quarter worth $286,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Natera by 17.6% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,778 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Natera by 27.0% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 86,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,936,000 after buying an additional 18,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the third quarter worth about $505,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.12.

Natera Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $151.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $161.23 and a 200-day moving average of $150.01. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $83.13 and a 52-week high of $183.00. The stock has a market cap of $20.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -85.88 and a beta of 1.80.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $12,958,888.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 267,629 shares in the company, valued at $44,150,756.13. This trade represents a 22.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.77, for a total transaction of $117,861.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 156,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,739,941.88. This trade represents a 0.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 306,797 shares of company stock worth $48,940,883 in the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Natera Company Profile

Natera, Inc, a diagnostics company, develops and commercializes molecular testing services worldwide. Its products include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for chromosomal abnormalities of a fetus, as well as in twin pregnancies; Horizon carrier screening test for individuals and couples determine if they are carriers of genetic variations that cause certain genetic conditions; Vistara single-gene NIPT screens for 25 single-gene disorders that cause severe skeletal, cardiac, and neurological conditions; Spectrum, preimplantation genetic tests for couples undergoing IVF; Anora that analyzes miscarriage tissue from women; Empower, a hereditary cancer screening test; and non-invasive prenatal paternity product, which allows a couple to establish paternity without waiting for the child to be born.