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

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 32.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 430,768 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 105,613 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.32% of Natera worth $60,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Natera by 7.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 879,463 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Natera by 134.9% during the fourth 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Natera by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,060,836,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036,396 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Natera by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,240,041 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $512,898,000 after acquiring an additional 439,778 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Natera by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,232,681 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $355,809,000 after acquiring an additional 142,201 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on NTRA. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Natera in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Natera from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $184.63.

Natera Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $165.34. The stock had a trading volume of 729,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,408,499. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $22.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -93.94 and a beta of 1.74. The business's fifty day moving average price is $154.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.59. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $92.14 and a 52-week high of $183.00.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 6,702 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.03, for a total value of $978,693.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 203,354 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,695,784.62. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 792 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.04, for a total value of $115,663.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 71,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,748.76. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 68,275 shares of company stock worth $10,142,783. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

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.