Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $106.53 Million Holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 28.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 983,747 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 392,666 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.80% of Natera worth $106,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 50.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Natera during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Natera during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Tobam purchased a new position in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth $74,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the 1st quarter worth $83,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Natera Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Natera stock opened at $118.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.90 and a beta of 1.48. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.90 and a 52-week high of $124.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 3.98 and a current ratio of 4.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.42.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.69) by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $413.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $343.00 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 30.24% and a negative return on equity of 49.72%. The company’s revenue was up 58.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.97) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.91, for a total value of $663,874.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 200,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,866,426.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel Rabinowitz sold 1,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.77, for a total transaction of $108,627.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 206,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,211,728. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,583 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.91, for a total value of $663,874.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 200,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,866,426.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 92,388 shares of company stock worth $10,205,064 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Natera in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $142.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research increased their price target on Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com cut Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Natera from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.07.

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.