Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,170 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Natera were worth $344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Natera by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 30,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,786,000 after purchasing an additional 3,892 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Natera by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,951 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter valued at about $286,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Natera by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 35,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,553,000 after buying an additional 7,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Black Swift Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,219,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.12.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In related news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.69, for a total transaction of $590,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,433,183.76. This represents a 29.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.77, for a total transaction of $117,861.51. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 156,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,739,941.88. The trade was a 0.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 298,946 shares of company stock valued at $47,803,462. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $148.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23. The company has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -84.22 and a beta of 1.80. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.83. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $83.13 and a one year high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The firm had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.91 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

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.