Employees Retirement System of Texas Makes New Investment in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,014 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Natera by 56.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,537,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,490,144,000 after acquiring an additional 3,795,315 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Natera by 44.3% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,625,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,795,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,263,822 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the first quarter valued at approximately $113,375,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 140.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,253,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $177,298,000 after purchasing an additional 732,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in Natera by 149.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 562,985 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $95,111,000 after buying an additional 336,985 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $245.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $33.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -107.01 and a beta of 1.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $192.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.64. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.38 and a 12 month high of $241.28.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by ($0.25). Natera had a negative return on equity of 25.07% and a negative net margin of 14.61%.The business had revenue of $592.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $514.55 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Roelof Botha sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.12, for a total value of $17,709,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,154,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $272,529,231.76. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Roy D. Baynes sold 7,668 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.08, for a total transaction of $1,710,577.44. Following the sale, the director owned 18,359 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,525.72. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 308,366 shares of company stock valued at $63,050,068. 5.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Natera from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Natera from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research lowered Natera from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Natera from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.88.

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.