Torray Investment Partners LLC Has $1.81 Million Stock Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Torray Investment Partners LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 28.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,424 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,651 shares during the period. Torray Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $1,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Natera by 205.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,481 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Natera by 3.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,482,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $315,194,000 after acquiring an additional 85,236 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Natera by 7.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,090,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $265,747,000 after acquiring an additional 143,825 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in Natera by 25.2% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,340,045 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $170,119,000 after acquiring an additional 269,706 shares during the period. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP grew its stake in Natera by 27.4% in the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 1,140,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $144,734,000 after acquiring an additional 245,505 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NTRA shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 43,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.88, for a total value of $7,694,633.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,492,857.52. This trade represents a 38.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.77, for a total value of $117,861.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 156,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,739,941.88. This trade represents a 0.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 208,299 shares of company stock valued at $34,948,265 over the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $143.11 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -81.31 and a beta of 1.66. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $83.13 and a 12 month high of $183.00. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.01. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The business had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.91 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

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.