Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 37.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 142,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 38,600 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Natera were worth $20,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NTRA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Natera by 134.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,742,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,067,327,000 after buying an additional 3,871,862 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Natera by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,060,836,000 after buying an additional 2,036,396 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at $224,040,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at $146,419,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Natera by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,949,697,000 after buying an additional 879,463 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Fesko sold 343 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.55, for a total value of $49,923.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 156,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,843,490.30. This represents a 0.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.44, for a total value of $657,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $937,965.76. The trade was a 41.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 68,275 shares of company stock worth $10,142,783. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NTRA. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Natera in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.63.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $166.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. The firm has a market cap of $22.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -94.75 and a beta of 1.74. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $158.62. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.14 and a 52 week high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.59) by $0.09. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The firm had revenue of $501.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.56) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.