DAVENPORT & Co LLC Acquires Shares of 14,032 Natera, Inc. $NTRA

DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 14,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,215,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Natera by 9.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,628,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,871,914,000 after buying an additional 1,003,129 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,096,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Natera by 63.2% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 148,247 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $23,863,000 after buying an additional 57,400 shares during the period. SWS Partners increased its stake in shares of Natera by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. SWS Partners now owns 47,037 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,572,000 after acquiring an additional 4,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Natera by 192.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 8,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,373,000 after acquiring an additional 5,614 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $239.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.47.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $182.65 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $125.38 and a one year high of $256.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $211.01 and its 200 day moving average is $208.15. The company has a market capitalization of $25.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -119.38 and a beta of 1.65.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. The business had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $600.68 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.41) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $160,242.05. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 63,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,932,452.02. This trade represents a 1.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Fesko sold 707 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total value of $144,319.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 189,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,621,191.87. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 318,344 shares of company stock worth $74,091,416 over the last three months. 5.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Natera

Natera is a global diagnostics company that develops and commercializes cell-free DNA and other genetic testing technologies for clinical applications. The company focuses on three principal areas: reproductive health (including non-invasive prenatal testing and carrier screening), oncology (tumor-informed assays for minimal residual disease and recurrence monitoring), and organ transplantation (cell-free DNA tests to detect allograft injury). Natera combines laboratory testing, proprietary bioinformatics, and clinical reporting to deliver personalized genetic information to clinicians and patients.

Key product offerings include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for fetal chromosomal abnormalities and select single-gene conditions; Horizon carrier screening for inherited conditions; Signatera, a personalized, tumor-informed assay used for detecting minimal residual disease and monitoring treatment response in cancer patients; and Prospera, a donor-derived cell-free DNA test used to assess the risk of organ rejection.