Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stake Decreased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,601 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 15,277 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Natera were worth $6,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Natera by 115.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,654,303 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $73,203,000 after purchasing an additional 887,409 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Natera by 52.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,529,496 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $111,930,000 after purchasing an additional 865,404 shares in the last quarter. Avidity Partners Management LP raised its holdings in Natera by 107.7% during the third quarter. Avidity Partners Management LP now owns 899,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,781,000 after purchasing an additional 466,100 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Natera by 291.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 423,080 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,502,000 after purchasing an additional 314,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,330,000. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the topic of several research reports. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on Natera in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $117.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Natera from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James cut Natera from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Natera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.40.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $96.98 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.90 and a twelve month high of $98.82. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 3.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $90.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.48.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.73) by $0.09. Natera had a negative net margin of 40.16% and a negative return on equity of 62.19%. The business had revenue of $311.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.38 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Natera

In related news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 93,901 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.37, for a total value of $6,513,912.37. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 61,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,279,088.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 93,901 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.37, for a total value of $6,513,912.37. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 61,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,279,088.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel Rabinowitz sold 35,307 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.09, for a total transaction of $2,651,202.63. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 204,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,334,729.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 420,779 shares of company stock valued at $34,667,871. Insiders own 9.42% of the company’s stock.

About Natera

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.