Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 2,901 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 37,684 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,901 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Natera were worth $8,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Csenge Advisory Group bought a new position in Natera in the 4th quarter worth approximately $629,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Natera by 740.0% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 75,936 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,396,000 after purchasing an additional 66,896 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in Natera by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,917 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in Natera in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,047,000. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in Natera in the 4th quarter worth approximately $358,000. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, May 8th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.60.

Natera Stock Down 0.6%

NTRA opened at $203.69 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.81 and a 12 month high of $256.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $215.41. The stock has a market cap of $29.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -124.96 and a beta of 1.57.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.05% and a negative return on equity of 14.74%. The business had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $600.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.41) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.16, for a total value of $185,956.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 149,867 shares in the company, valued at $30,896,580.72. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total transaction of $693,564.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 142,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,984,068.55. This represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders have sold 38,266 shares of company stock worth $7,747,808 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

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.