Schroder Investment Management Group Reduces Stock Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Schroder Investment Management Group trimmed its holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 370,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 63,059 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Natera were worth $58,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Natera by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,949,697,000 after acquiring an additional 879,463 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Natera by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,060,836,000 after buying an additional 2,036,396 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Natera by 205.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,493,000 after buying an additional 1,883,481 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Natera by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,090,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $265,747,000 after acquiring an additional 143,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter worth about $224,040,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Natera from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 25,931 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $4,277,837.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 109,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,091,435.05. The trade was a 19.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.04, for a total value of $149,837.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 144,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,143,963.28. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 306,797 shares of company stock valued at $48,940,883. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Natera Stock Down 1.8 %

Natera stock opened at $141.41 on Tuesday. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $83.13 and a one year high of $183.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $159.26 and a 200 day moving average of $151.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. The stock has a market cap of $19.12 billion, a PE ratio of -80.35 and a beta of 1.80.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Natera Company Profile

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.