Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Cuts Stock Holdings in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P reduced its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 32.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,643 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 82,680 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned approximately 0.12% of Natera worth $28,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NTRA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Natera by 56.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,795,315 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 3,263,822 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Natera in the second quarter valued at approximately $277,749,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Natera in the first quarter valued at approximately $113,375,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $177,298,000 after acquiring an additional 732,156 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 160,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.96, for a total transaction of $32,134,171.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 144,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,957,407.36. This trade represents a 52.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.60, for a total transaction of $595,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 112,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,255,314.60. This represents a 2.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 308,366 shares of company stock worth $63,050,068 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Up 3.3%

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $245.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.82 billion, a PE ratio of -107.01 and a beta of 1.75. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.38 and a 52-week high of $241.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $192.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.77.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 14.61% and a negative return on equity of 25.07%. Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.26) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NTRA shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Natera to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on Natera from $218.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Natera from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Natera from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Natera from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.88.

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.