Natera, Inc. $NTRA Stake Boosted by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,324 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,317 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Natera were worth $5,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter worth $2,962,770,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 1.0% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,191,732 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $238,334,000 after purchasing an additional 11,793 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 24.1% in the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,171,633 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $234,315,000 after purchasing an additional 227,605 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Natera by 10.7% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 833,376 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $226,220,000 after purchasing an additional 80,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Natera during the second quarter valued at about $199,960,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on NTRA. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $350.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $355.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $385.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird set a $348.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $374.64.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $413.38 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $363.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.16. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $181.00 and a 1 year high of $437.41. The company has a market capitalization of $59.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -303.95 and a beta of 1.50.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. Natera had a negative return on equity of 11.38% and a negative net margin of 7.11%. The firm had revenue of $752.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.74) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In related news, insider John Fesko sold 6,517 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.53, for a total value of $2,095,411.01. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 197,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,424,043.21. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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, CFO Michael Brophy sold 478 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.22, for a total value of $131,077.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 51,637 shares in the company, valued at $14,159,898.14. This represents a 0.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,985 shares of company stock worth $16,119,137. Insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

About Natera

Natera, Inc is a diagnostics company that develops and commercializes molecular testing services designed to provide personalized genetic and genomic information. Its tests are used across reproductive health, oncology and organ transplantation, with the company combining next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics to analyze DNA and monitor disease-related signals.

In reproductive health, Natera offers Panorama noninvasive prenatal screening, Horizon carrier screening and Vistara single-gene disorder screening.