Arizona State Retirement System Sells 3,127 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Arizona State Retirement System decreased its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,674 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,127 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Natera were worth $8,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Natera by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its holdings in Natera by 3.1% during the third quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,804 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp grew its holdings in Natera by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 931 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, BOKF NA grew its holdings in Natera by 1.9% during the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 3,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.44, for a total transaction of $694,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,486 shares in the company, valued at $32,282,639.84. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 85,299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.72, for a total transaction of $19,680,185.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 127,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,504,704.32. This represents a 40.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 138,257 shares of company stock valued at $31,468,797 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Natera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, January 12th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Natera from $239.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.47.

Natera Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $203.75 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.81 and a 12-month high of $256.36. The stock has a market cap of $28.88 billion, a PE ratio of -133.17 and a beta of 1.68. The business has a 50 day moving average of $202.89 and a 200-day moving average of $213.21.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. The company had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.41) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Natera Profile

Natera is a global diagnostics company that develops and commercializes cell-free DNA and other genetic testing technologies for clinical applications. The company focuses on three principal areas: reproductive health (including non-invasive prenatal testing and carrier screening), oncology (tumor-informed assays for minimal residual disease and recurrence monitoring), and organ transplantation (cell-free DNA tests to detect allograft injury). Natera combines laboratory testing, proprietary bioinformatics, and clinical reporting to deliver personalized genetic information to clinicians and patients.

Key product offerings include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for fetal chromosomal abnormalities and select single-gene conditions; Horizon carrier screening for inherited conditions; Signatera, a personalized, tumor-informed assay used for detecting minimal residual disease and monitoring treatment response in cancer patients; and Prospera, a donor-derived cell-free DNA test used to assess the risk of organ rejection.