Quest Partners LLC Sells 837 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Quest Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,148 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 837 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Natera by 148.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Natera by 50.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Natera by 34.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam purchased a new stake in Natera during the second quarter worth $74,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Natera Trading Up 2.4 %

NTRA stock opened at $168.32 on Wednesday. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.88 and a 52-week high of $171.95. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $22.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -93.63 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.64.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. The company had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. Natera’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Natera from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Leerink Partners raised their price target on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Natera from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.59.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 9,682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.98, for a total value of $1,548,926.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,552,445.92. This trade represents a 49.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,024 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.48, for a total transaction of $645,483.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,141,737.28. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,503 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,804. 7.60% of the stock is 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.