M&T Bank Corp Acquires 4,235 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 76.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,808 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 4,235 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Natera were worth $2,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Natera by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,628,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,871,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,129 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Natera by 37.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,665,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $428,987,000 after purchasing an additional 727,366 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Natera by 39.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,400,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $386,338,000 after purchasing an additional 673,315 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Natera by 215.7% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 527,942 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $84,983,000 after purchasing an additional 360,733 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Natera by 5,965.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 343,768 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $78,754,000 after purchasing an additional 338,100 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Natera

In related news, insider John Fesko sold 1,688 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.10, for a total transaction of $344,520.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 187,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,270,995.10. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total transaction of $693,564.45. Following the transaction, the insider owned 142,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,984,068.55. This represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 38,266 shares of company stock worth $7,747,808 in the last three months. Insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $219.82 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $202.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.02. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.81 and a fifty-two week high of $256.36. The firm has a market cap of $31.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -143.67 and a beta of 1.57.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.07). Natera had a negative return on equity of 15.28% and a negative net margin of 9.03%.The company had revenue of $696.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $617.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.50) EPS. Natera’s revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on NTRA. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Natera from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.47.

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.