Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 282,826 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,676,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 282,826 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.28% of Natera worth $2,141,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in Natera during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in Natera in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Natera by 114.8% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 232 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 83.5% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 233 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Natera from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Natera from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Stephens boosted their target price on Natera from $197.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $268.00 target price on Natera and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $218.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 160,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.96, for a total value of $32,134,171.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 144,816 shares in the company, valued at $28,957,407.36. The trade was a 52.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.99, for a total value of $479,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 117,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,808,264.41. This trade represents a 2.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 236,116 shares of company stock worth $45,800,290 in the last three months. Insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Natera Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of Natera stock opened at $230.63 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.38 and a 12 month high of $235.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -100.71 and a beta of 1.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.81.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results 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). Natera had a negative net margin of 14.61% and a negative return on equity of 25.07%. The business had revenue of $592.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.26) EPS. Natera’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 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.