Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Shares Purchased by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 753.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 27,551 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,324 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Natera were worth $4,361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Natera by 104.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Natera by 345.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Natera by 148.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Natera by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 430 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NTRA. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays initiated coverage on Natera in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Craig Hallum lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.88.

Natera Stock Performance

Natera stock opened at $176.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.27 billion, a PE ratio of -100.15 and a beta of 1.65. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.74 and a 12 month high of $183.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $166.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $361.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.95) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total value of $350,668.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,073,262.58. This trade represents a 10.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Roelof Botha sold 87,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.12, for a total transaction of $14,793,433.76. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,224,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,135,977.44. This trade represents a 6.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 243,122 shares of company stock worth $40,336,290. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Natera

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.