Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Has $14.33 Million Stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 859.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 90,522 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 81,086 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.07% of Natera worth $14,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Natera by 134.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,742,428 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,067,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,871,862 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,060,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036,396 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $224,040,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,419,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,949,697,000 after purchasing an additional 879,463 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natera Stock Down 7.1 %

Shares of NTRA stock traded down $11.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $150.99. 4,379,794 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,394,785. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -85.79 and a beta of 1.79. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $147.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.39. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $92.14 and a one year high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.59) by $0.09. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The business had revenue of $501.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $446.68 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.56) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Natera from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $181.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.29, for a total transaction of $859,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 143,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,600,516.72. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.61, for a total transaction of $606,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,223.44. This represents a 29.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 152,436 shares of company stock worth $22,019,079 over the last ninety days. Company 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.