Arizona State Retirement System Grows Holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,209 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Natera were worth $5,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Natera in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 117.8% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 220 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera during the first quarter valued at $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 6,980 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.10, for a total transaction of $1,047,698.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 185,182 shares in the company, valued at $27,795,818.20. This trade represents a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.07, for a total transaction of $471,210.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 133,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,922,509.35. This represents a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 53,272 shares of company stock worth $8,345,368 over the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NTRA. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Natera from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $184.63.

Natera Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:NTRA traded down $1.54 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $148.31. The company had a trading volume of 405,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,419,134. The firm has a market cap of $20.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -101.01 and a beta of 1.73. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $160.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.33. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $92.14 and a twelve month high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $501.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $446.68 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 10.36% and a negative return on equity of 18.29%. The business's revenue was up 36.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.56) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

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.