Swedbank AB Acquires 10,326 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 51.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 10,326 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Natera were worth $4,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Natera by 205.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883,481 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,482,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $315,194,000 after purchasing an additional 85,236 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 7.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,090,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $265,747,000 after buying an additional 143,825 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 25.2% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,340,045 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $170,119,000 after buying an additional 269,706 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Natera by 25.0% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,229,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $156,092,000 after buying an additional 246,246 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on NTRA. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Natera from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.88.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other news, Director Roelof Botha sold 87,473 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.12, for a total transaction of $14,793,433.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,224,787 shares in the company, valued at $207,135,977.44. The trade was a 6.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total transaction of $350,668.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,386 shares in the company, valued at $3,073,262.58. This represents a 10.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 263,894 shares of company stock valued at $43,801,978 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Natera Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NTRA opened at $176.92 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $166.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.31. 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 company has a market cap of $23.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -100.52 and a beta of 1.65. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.74 and a 52-week high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The business had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.95) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal 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.