PointState Capital LP Reduces Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

PointState Capital LP reduced its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 27.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 569,252 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 213,286 shares during the period. Natera makes up 1.6% of PointState Capital LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. PointState Capital LP owned about 0.43% of Natera worth $90,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,001 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Natera by 68.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 325,155 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $51,472,000 after purchasing an additional 132,273 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,794 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,392,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Natera in the fourth quarter worth $2,584,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,020,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 87,272 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 203,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,160,963.60. This represents a 30.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.61, for a total transaction of $606,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,223.44. The trade was a 29.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,436 shares of company stock worth $22,019,079 over the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Natera Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA traded down $0.65 on Tuesday, reaching $152.62. 246,594 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,381,362. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.14 and a 12 month high of $183.00. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $148.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $157.17. The company has a market cap of $20.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -86.72 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.68 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.56) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 36.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. 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 note on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Natera from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.