Nicholas Investment Partners LP Reduces Stock Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Nicholas Investment Partners LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 96.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,468 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 247,000 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP's holdings in Natera were worth $1,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings 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 during the period. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera in the fourth quarter valued at $2,894,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new stake in Natera during the 4th quarter valued at $256,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Natera by 753.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 27,551 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,361,000 after acquiring an additional 24,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 87,272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.40, for a total transaction of $12,514,804.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 203,354 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,160,963.60. The trade was a 30.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.61, for a total transaction of $606,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,704 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,471,223.44. The trade was a 29.19% 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 insiders.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA stock traded up $3.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $152.59. 911,043 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,386,529. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.14 and a 1-year high of $183.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.84 billion, a PE ratio of -86.70 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $501.83 million for 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.56) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Natera from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Natera from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $182.12.

Natera 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.