New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 86,783 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 11,222 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Natera were worth $5,436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,556,792 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $334,388,000 after purchasing an additional 67,102 shares during the period. Kynam Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Natera by 3.6% during the third quarter. Kynam Capital Management LP now owns 3,003,668 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $132,912,000 after buying an additional 103,668 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP raised its position in Natera by 1.5% in the third quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 2,651,783 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $117,341,000 after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Natera by 52.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,529,496 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $111,930,000 after acquiring an additional 865,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Natera by 115.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,654,303 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $73,203,000 after acquiring an additional 887,409 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of Natera from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Natera from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Natera from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $117.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.40.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $96.98 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.71 billion, a PE ratio of -25.59 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 3.96. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.90 and a 1 year high of $98.82.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.73) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $311.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.38 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 62.19% and a negative net margin of 40.16%. Analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 9,326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.36, for a total transaction of $824,045.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,821,120.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 9,326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.36, for a total transaction of $824,045.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,821,120.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.22, for a total transaction of $40,328.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 347,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,372,290.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 420,779 shares of company stock valued at $34,667,871 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 9.42% of the company’s stock.

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.