Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $15.06 Million Holdings in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its Natera stake by 286.8% in Q4 and now owns 65,717 shares valued at about $15.06 million.
• Natera beat Q4 estimates with $0.35 EPS (vs. -$0.46) and $665.5M revenue (vs. $600.7M) but remains unprofitable (net margin -9.03%) and trades near $203.75 with a ~$28.9B market cap.
• Analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus and $253.47 target price, while insiders sold roughly 138,257 shares (~$31.47M) over the past 90 days, leaving insiders with 5.63% ownership.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 286.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,717 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 48,728 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Natera were worth $15,055,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NTRA. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Natera Stock Performance

Natera stock opened at $203.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $28.88 billion, a PE ratio of -133.17 and a beta of 1.68. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $202.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.90. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.81 and a twelve month high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.68 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.41) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $300.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Natera from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Natera from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $253.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.30, for a total value of $606,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 147,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,916,528.60. The trade was a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 785 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $160,242.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 63,354 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,932,452.02. This represents a 1.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 138,257 shares of company stock valued at $31,468,797. 5.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Natera Profile

Natera is a global diagnostics company that develops and commercializes cell-free DNA and other genetic testing technologies for clinical applications. The company focuses on three principal areas: reproductive health (including non-invasive prenatal testing and carrier screening), oncology (tumor-informed assays for minimal residual disease and recurrence monitoring), and organ transplantation (cell-free DNA tests to detect allograft injury). Natera combines laboratory testing, proprietary bioinformatics, and clinical reporting to deliver personalized genetic information to clinicians and patients.

Key product offerings include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for fetal chromosomal abnormalities and select single-gene conditions; Horizon carrier screening for inherited conditions; Signatera, a personalized, tumor-informed assay used for detecting minimal residual disease and monitoring treatment response in cancer patients; and Prospera, a donor-derived cell-free DNA test used to assess the risk of organ rejection.

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