Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Lowers Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P decreased its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 259,146 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 7,941 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned approximately 0.20% of Natera worth $41,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 104.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Natera by 345.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Natera by 372.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in Natera by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 1,328.0% in 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 during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.29, for a total value of $859,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 143,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,600,516.72. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $12,958,888.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 267,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,150,756.13. This trade represents a 22.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 306,797 shares of company stock worth $48,940,883. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays began coverage on Natera in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Natera from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.12.

Natera Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $148.30 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $83.13 and a 1 year high of $183.00. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $159.88 and its 200 day moving average is $150.54. The company has a market cap of $20.05 billion, a PE ratio of -84.26 and a beta of 1.80.

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