4,572 Shares in Natera, Inc. $NTRA Acquired by North Dakota State Investment Board

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,572 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,047,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Natera by 9.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,628,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,871,914,000 after buying an additional 1,003,129 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Natera by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $545,624,000 after purchasing an additional 72,087 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Natera by 37.5% during 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 last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 1.7% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 2,451,779 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $394,663,000 after buying an additional 41,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,400,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $386,338,000 after acquiring an additional 673,315 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NTRA. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 price target on Natera in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. BTIG Research dropped their price target on Natera from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.16, for a total value of $185,956.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 149,867 shares in the company, valued at $30,896,580.72. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 482 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.49, for a total value of $101,456.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 57,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,102,333.04. The trade was a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,266 shares of company stock valued at $7,747,808. Company insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Up 4.5%

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $204.92 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -125.72 and a beta of 1.57. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.81 and a twelve month high of $256.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $215.38.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. The business had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.68 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 9.05%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.41) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.