Natera, Inc. $NTRA Shares Acquired by Panagora Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Natera, Inc. by 510% during the first quarter, acquiring a total of 15,646 shares valued at approximately $2.2 million.
• Natera reported a quarterly loss of ($0.74) earnings per share, falling short of analysts' expectations, despite revenues of $546.6 million, which exceeded estimates by over 14%.
• Wall Street analysts remain largely optimistic about Natera, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a price target averaging $194.00.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 510.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,646 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 13,081 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Natera were worth $2,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NTRA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Natera by 56.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,537,743 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,490,144,000 after acquiring an additional 3,795,315 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the 1st quarter worth about $113,375,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 purchasing an additional 660,538 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Natera by 8,233.5% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 397,924 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $56,270,000 after buying an additional 393,149 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,035,979 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $287,908,000 after buying an additional 245,719 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded Natera to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $183.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Natera in a research report on Monday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seventeen have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Natera has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $194.00.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, insider John Fesko sold 678 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.46, for a total value of $105,401.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 152,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,746,048.62. This represents a 0.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.62, for a total value of $499,860.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 120,859 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,137,526.58. This represents a 2.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,344 shares of company stock worth $8,271,610 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.63% of the company's stock.

Natera Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA traded up $1.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $168.02. 776,006 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,211,789. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -87.97 and a beta of 1.68. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $110.57 and a one year high of $183.00. The business's fifty day moving average is $154.35 and its 200-day moving average is $153.91.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $546.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $476.84 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 22.22% and a negative net margin of 12.89%.Natera's quarterly revenue was up 32.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.30) earnings per share. Natera has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts forecast 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.