QRG Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

QRG Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 33.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,652 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,309 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Natera were worth $749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NTRA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Natera by 44.3% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,625,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,795,125,000 after buying an additional 3,263,822 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the second quarter worth approximately $277,749,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Natera by 44.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,750 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $291,717,000 after purchasing an additional 532,769 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its position in shares of Natera by 149.1% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 562,985 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $95,111,000 after purchasing an additional 336,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Natera by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,937,647 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $327,346,000 after purchasing an additional 330,696 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 48,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.42, for a total value of $11,011,448.98. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,626,177.64. The trade was a 70.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Roy D. Baynes sold 7,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.08, for a total transaction of $1,710,577.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,525.72. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 339,029 shares of company stock valued at $72,768,595 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NTRA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Natera from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Natera to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price target on Natera from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.50.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA stock opened at $242.78 on Thursday. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $125.38 and a one year high of $256.36. The firm has a market cap of $33.58 billion, a PE ratio of -106.02 and a beta of 1.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $232.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.23.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by ($0.25). Natera had a negative return on equity of 25.07% and a negative net margin of 14.61%.The business had revenue of $592.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $514.55 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.26) EPS. Natera’s revenue was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.