Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Sells 4,388 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lowered its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 47.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,957 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 4,388 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Natera were worth $785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Natera by 134.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,742,428 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,067,327,000 after buying an additional 3,871,862 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Natera by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,060,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036,396 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter worth approximately $224,040,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,419,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Natera by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,949,697,000 after purchasing an additional 879,463 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Natera Trading Down 7.1 %

Shares of Natera stock opened at $150.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -85.79 and a beta of 1.79. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $92.14 and a 12-month high of $183.00. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.64.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.59) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $501.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $446.68 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. Natera's quarterly revenue was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.56) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.29, for a total value of $859,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 143,768 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,600,516.72. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 6,203 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.18, for a total transaction of $943,972.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 192,162 shares in the company, valued at $29,243,213.16. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 152,436 shares of company stock valued at $22,019,079. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NTRA. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Natera from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $181.82.

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.

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