Next Century Growth Investors LLC Sells 54,758 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Next Century Growth Investors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 39.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 84,362 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 54,758 shares during the quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC owned 0.06% of Natera worth $13,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Natera by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,319 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Natera during the third quarter valued at $929,000. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in Natera by 34.6% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Natera by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 5,513 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $699,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 7.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 87,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.40, for a total transaction of $12,514,804.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 203,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,160,963.60. This trade represents a 30.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 946 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.98, for a total transaction of $162,693.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 109,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,827,338.52. The trade was a 0.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 325,922 shares of company stock valued at $51,603,664. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Natera from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Natera from $200.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.76.

Natera Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of NTRA opened at $148.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -84.11 and a beta of 1.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.05. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $83.13 and a twelve month high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly 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. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The company had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.91 million. On average, research analysts anticipate 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.