Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 13.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 603,477 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 91,190 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.45% of Natera worth $85,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Natera by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 657 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Natera by 1,328.0% in 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. Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Natera in the fourth quarter valued at $221,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Natera in the first quarter valued at $6,753,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Natera by 1.5% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,417 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NTRA shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Natera from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Natera from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Natera in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $184.63.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRA traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $161.50. The stock had a trading volume of 468,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,425,063. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -109.86 and a beta of 1.73. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $92.14 and a twelve month high of $183.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.44.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) 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 the consensus estimate of $446.68 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 10.36% and a negative return on equity of 18.29%. The firm's revenue was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.56) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,299 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total transaction of $719,480.64. Following the sale, the director owned 8,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,358,628.48. The trade was a 34.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.77, for a total value of $500,310.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 130,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,714,287.85. This trade represents a 2.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 53,272 shares of company stock worth $8,345,368 over the last quarter. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

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.