Tairen Capital Ltd Acquires Shares of 10,700 Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Tairen Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,700 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,694,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Natera by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,949,697,000 after acquiring an additional 879,463 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Natera by 134.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,742,428 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,067,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,871,862 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,060,836,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036,396 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Natera by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,240,041 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $512,898,000 after acquiring an additional 439,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Natera by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,232,681 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $355,809,000 after buying an additional 142,201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NTRA shares. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $182.12.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In related news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.61, for a total value of $606,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,704 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,471,223.44. This trade represents a 29.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Fesko sold 343 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.55, for a total transaction of $49,923.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 156,946 shares in the company, valued at $22,843,490.30. This represents a 0.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,436 shares of company stock valued at $22,019,079 in the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NTRA stock traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $153.32. 1,085,198 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,392,841. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $149.39 and a 200 day moving average of $157.72. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $92.14 and a 52-week high of $183.00. The company has a market cap of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of -87.11 and a beta of 1.79.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.59) by $0.09. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The business had revenue of $501.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $446.68 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.56) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 36.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

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.