Edgestream Partners L.P. Grows Stock Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 154.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,316 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,925 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Natera were worth $3,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Natera by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,676,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,141,594,000 after acquiring an additional 282,826 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Natera by 44.3% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,625,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,795,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,263,822 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 56.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,537,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,490,144,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795,315 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,552,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $430,640,000 after purchasing an additional 166,768 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Natera by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,035,979 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,908,000 after purchasing an additional 245,719 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.07, for a total transaction of $1,047,508.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 140,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,428,837.12. The trade was a 3.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.64, for a total transaction of $355,924.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 64,126 shares in the company, valued at $12,224,980.64. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 307,687 shares of company stock worth $63,466,360 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on NTRA shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Natera from $218.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $197.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Natera from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Natera from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $172.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.53.

Natera Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $238.21 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $196.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.88 billion, a PE ratio of -104.02 and a beta of 1.63. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.38 and a 52 week high of $241.28.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $592.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $514.55 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.61% and a negative return on equity of 25.07%. The firm’s revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.26) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Natera Company 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.