Banque Pictet & Cie SA Trims Stock Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA lowered its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,487 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Natera were worth $4,936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NTRA. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Natera by 205.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,493,000 after buying an additional 1,883,481 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Natera by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,482,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $315,194,000 after buying an additional 85,236 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Natera by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,090,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $265,747,000 after buying an additional 143,825 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in Natera by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,340,045 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $170,119,000 after buying an additional 269,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Natera by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,229,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $156,092,000 after buying an additional 246,246 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on NTRA shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.88.

Natera Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $173.39 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $167.75 and a 200 day moving average of $142.83. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.03 and a 52 week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $22.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -98.52 and a beta of 1.66.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The business had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.95) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Fesko sold 669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.60, for a total value of $106,772.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,217,063.20. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $12,958,888.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 267,629 shares in the company, valued at $44,150,756.13. This represents a 22.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 305,454 shares of company stock worth $51,290,625. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Natera Company 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.