Banco Santander S.A. Makes New Investment in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. has acquired a new stake of 22,986 shares in Natera, Inc., valued at approximately $3.25 million during the first quarter.
• Analyst ratings for Natera show a consensus of 15 buy ratings, 1 strong buy, and 1 sell, with a current price target averaging $183.76.
• In recent insider trading, executives sold a total of 48,936 shares of Natera stock worth about $7.48 million, indicating a 1.1% to 1.72% decrease in their positions.

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 22,986 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $3,250,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Natera by 30.8% during the first quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,986 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in Natera by 9.8% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,293 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Natera by 32.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 848 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Natera during the first quarter valued at approximately $6,753,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on NTRA. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Natera from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Natera to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Natera from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, May 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $183.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other Natera news, insider John Fesko sold 1,710 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total transaction of $239,075.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 151,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,216,167.50. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 2,206 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total transaction of $308,420.86. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 126,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,624,308.79. This represents a 1.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,936 shares of company stock worth $7,483,846 over the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $134.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -91.55 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.78. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.14 and a fifty-two week high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.59) by $0.09. Natera had a negative net margin of 10.36% and a negative return on equity of 18.29%. The firm 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 business earned ($0.56) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

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.

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