13,088 Shares in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,088 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,851,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Natera in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Natera by 117.8% in the 1st 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 period. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA stock traded down $0.07 on Friday, hitting $161.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 468,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,422,668. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.14 and a fifty-two week high of $183.00. The company has a market capitalization of $22.05 billion, a PE ratio of -109.86 and a beta of 1.73. The stock's 50 day moving average is $160.34 and its 200-day moving average is $158.42.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.59) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $501.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.68 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 18.29% and a negative net margin of 10.36%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.56) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,299 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total transaction of $719,480.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,118 shares in the company, valued at $1,358,628.48. The trade was a 34.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,343 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.53, for a total value of $889,769.79. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 173,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,930,923.84. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,272 shares of company stock worth $8,345,368. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

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.