State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Boosts Holdings in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,331 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Natera were worth $7,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Natera by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,393,827 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,752,611,000 after buying an additional 77,357 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Natera by 56.3% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 3,795,315 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Natera by 9.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,361,963 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,041,055,000 after acquiring an additional 660,538 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Natera by 13.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,035,979 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $287,908,000 after acquiring an additional 245,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its holdings in Natera by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,634,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $231,173,000 after purchasing an additional 268,715 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $175.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.59.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA stock opened at $192.51 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $26.42 billion, a PE ratio of -100.79 and a beta of 1.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $171.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.43. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $117.27 and a one year high of $198.99.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.14). Natera had a negative net margin of 12.89% and a negative return on equity of 22.22%. The firm had revenue of $546.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $476.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.30) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 32.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Natera has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.77, for a total value of $148,561.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,614,319.53. The trade was a 1.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 292 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.95, for a total transaction of $54,881.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 117,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,040,332.65. This trade represents a 0.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,419 shares of company stock worth $9,526,405 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Natera 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.