Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Stock Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 68.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 325,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 132,273 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.25% of Natera worth $51,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Natera by 14.8% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,197 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,187,000 after acquiring an additional 2,611 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Natera by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 187,438 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $20,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 6.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,397,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $259,634,000 after buying an additional 148,917 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Natera by 35.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 264,801 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,680,000 after buying an additional 69,523 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Natera by 8.2% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 216,500 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $23,445,000 after buying an additional 16,317 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NTRA. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.00.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $170.35 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $162.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.52. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.80 and a 52-week high of $183.00. The company has a market cap of $22.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -96.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The firm had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.95) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In related news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total value of $350,668.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,073,262.58. This trade represents a 10.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.07, for a total value of $30,737.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,434,752.37. This trade represents a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 123,409 shares of company stock valued at $20,045,631 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% 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.