Parnassus Investments LLC Grows Stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,241 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $1,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Natera by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam purchased a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 10.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,024 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.48, for a total value of $645,483.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,141,737.28. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,821 shares of company stock worth $4,776,878 over the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on NTRA shares. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted 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. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, August 9th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.59.

Natera Trading Up 5.0 %

NTRA opened at $153.42 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $127.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.76. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.31 and a fifty-two week high of $167.79. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.95) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Natera 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.