E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Sells 5,200 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lowered its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 14.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 31,263 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 5,200 shares during the quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB's holdings in Natera were worth $4,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 104.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 372.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 1,328.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 357 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Barclays upped their price target on Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $184.63.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA stock traded down $1.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $163.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,016,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,407,598. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.14 and a 52 week high of $183.00. The stock's 50 day moving average is $151.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.67. 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 $22.36 billion, a PE ratio of -93.05 and a beta of 1.74.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $501.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.56) earnings per share. Natera's revenue was up 36.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,026 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.04, for a total value of $149,837.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 144,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,143,963.28. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.69, for a total value of $590,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at $1,433,183.76. This trade represents a 29.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,275 shares of company stock valued at $10,075,783 over the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.