Teacher Retirement System of Texas Cuts Stake in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,989 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,494 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Natera were worth $2,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Natera by 6.6% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 68.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Natera by 8.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Natera during the second quarter valued at $298,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Natera by 10.0% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,648 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.66, for a total transaction of $866,983.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 213,180 shares in the company, valued at $50,664,358.80. The trade was a 1.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.40, for a total value of $430,156.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,059 shares in the company, valued at $13,607,193.60. This represents a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 514,528 shares of company stock worth $114,975,330 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Natera from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.20.

Natera Trading Down 1.9%

NTRA stock opened at $231.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $235.90 and a 200-day moving average of $193.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -101.08 and a beta of 1.62. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.38 and a 12 month high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $592.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $514.55 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 25.07% and a negative net margin of 14.61%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.26) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Natera

Here are the key news stories impacting Natera this week:

• Negative Sentiment: CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold a total of 5,064 shares across Jan. 27–29 for roughly $1.19M (transactions at ~$240.53, $237.56 and $230.40); his holdings fell by ~3% but he still holds ~59k shares. CFO Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Steven L. Chapman sold 5,970 shares across Jan. 27–28 for roughly $1.43M (avg ~$237–240); his stake decreased ~1–2% and he still owns ~213k shares. CEO Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Other insiders (John Fesko and Solomon Moshkevich) also sold multiple tranches (combined ~3,925 shares, ~ $0.94M), each reducing holdings by under 1%. Fesko Form 4 Moshkevich Form 4

Natera Company 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.