Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Holdings Lowered by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV trimmed its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 43.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,607 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 11,944 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Natera were worth $2,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Natera by 117.8% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 220 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 372.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 1,328.0% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 357 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Natera

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 6,980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.10, for a total transaction of $1,047,698.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 185,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,795,818.20. The trade was a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.07, for a total transaction of $471,210.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 133,205 shares in the company, valued at $20,922,509.35. The trade was a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 53,272 shares of company stock valued at $8,345,368. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.63.

Natera Price Performance

Natera stock opened at $161.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $158.47. The company has a market cap of $22.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -109.86 and a beta of 1.73. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.14 and a fifty-two week high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.59) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $501.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.68 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 10.36% and a negative return on equity of 18.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.56) earnings per share. On average, 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.