Allstate Corp Acquires 5,084 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Allstate Corp grew its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 105.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,084 shares during the quarter. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Natera were worth $2,268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nia Impact Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,411,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Natera by 83.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 2,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Natera by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 363,121 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $83,187,000 after buying an additional 27,136 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth $238,000. Finally, Praxis Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Natera in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $229,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.60.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $213.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $30.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -131.25 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $215.63. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.81 and a fifty-two week high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. The business had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.68 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 9.05%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.41) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.84, for a total value of $335,091.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 140,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,528,026.12. This represents a 1.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.16, for a total transaction of $185,956.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 149,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,896,580.72. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,356 shares of company stock worth $8,374,584. Insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Natera Profile

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.