Swiss National Bank Increases Stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 227,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.18% of Natera worth $28,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 148.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Natera by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Natera by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam purchased a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth about $74,000. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NTRA. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, Director Rowan E. Chapman sold 2,614 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.68, for a total value of $333,755.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,017,481.92. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,196 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.21, for a total value of $141,379.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 110,695 shares in the company, valued at $13,085,255.95. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,821 shares of company stock valued at $4,776,878 over the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Natera Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $167.88 on Thursday. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.62 and a 12-month high of $169.71. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $129.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -95.39 and a beta of 1.53.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. The business had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.95) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Natera 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.