B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Acquires New Holdings in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired 3,095 shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) for approximately $438,000 in the first quarter.
• Insider sales included Solomon Moshkevich selling 3,000 shares worth $500,310, representing a 2.25% decrease in their position.
• Natera reported a quarterly revenue of $546.60 million, exceeding analyst expectations of $476.84 million, despite missing EPS estimates.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG bought a new position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,095 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $438,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Natera by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,393,827 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,752,611,000 after buying an additional 77,357 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Natera by 56.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,537,743 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,490,144,000 after buying an additional 3,795,315 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Natera by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,361,963 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,041,055,000 after buying an additional 660,538 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Natera by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,035,979 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $287,908,000 after buying an additional 245,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in Natera by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,521,300 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $215,127,000 after buying an additional 80,865 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on NTRA. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up from $210.00) on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Natera from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, May 17th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $183.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $194.00.

Natera Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA traded down $1.81 on Wednesday, reaching $167.53. 1,096,076 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,451,189. The company has a fifty day moving average of $154.38 and a 200-day moving average of $153.97. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $110.57 and a twelve month high of $183.00. The company has a market capitalization of $22.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -87.71 and a beta of 1.68.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.74) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $546.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $476.84 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 22.22% and a negative net margin of 12.89%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 32.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.30) EPS. Natera has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In related news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 875 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.46, for a total transaction of $136,027.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 123,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,255,120.14. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,807 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.88, for a total transaction of $771,634.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 163,593 shares in the company, valued at $21,738,237.84. This represents a 3.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,344 shares of company stock worth $7,771,750 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.63% 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.