Parnassus Investments LLC Increases Holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,241 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 652 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $1,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Natera by 148.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Natera by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tobam acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total transaction of $350,668.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,073,262.58. The trade was a 10.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.57, for a total transaction of $344,439.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 284,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,324,409.37. The trade was a 0.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,821 shares of company stock valued at $4,776,878. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Natera from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.59.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $153.42 on Tuesday. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.31 and a 52-week high of $167.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $127.38 and a 200 day moving average of $115.76. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. The business had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.95) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.