Point72 Asset Management L.P. Cuts Stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. decreased its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 56.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 305,243 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 391,799 shares during the quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned 0.23% of Natera worth $48,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Natera by 134.9% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 3,871,862 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Natera by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,060,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036,396 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $224,040,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Natera in the 4th quarter worth $146,419,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 879,463 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA traded down $3.47 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $151.07. 392,064 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,381,561. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.15. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $92.14 and a 52-week high of $183.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.63 billion, a PE ratio of -86.28 and a beta of 1.79. 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 (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.59) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $501.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $446.68 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The company's revenue was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.56) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 87,272 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.40, for a total transaction of $12,514,804.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 203,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,160,963.60. The trade was a 30.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.29, for a total value of $859,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 152,436 shares of company stock valued at $22,019,079 in the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Natera presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.