Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Decreases Stock Holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,384,990 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 97,828 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.81% of Natera worth $377,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,949,697,000 after acquiring an additional 879,463 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,060,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036,396 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,240,041 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $512,898,000 after purchasing an additional 439,778 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,232,681 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,809,000 after purchasing an additional 142,201 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Natera by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,538,875 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $243,604,000 after purchasing an additional 439,540 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Natera Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $143.20 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 stock has a market capitalization of $19.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -81.36 and a beta of 1.80. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.29. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $83.13 and a fifty-two week high of $183.00.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Natera from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.12.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 2,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.41, for a total transaction of $354,606.42. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,457,844.37. The trade was a 3.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 24,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $4,101,319.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 140,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,208,639.48. This represents a 15.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 318,922 shares of company stock valued at $50,619,104 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

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.