Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Cuts Stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC decreased its holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 27.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 484 shares during the period. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,812 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 160,441 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,359 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the 4th quarter valued at $2,904,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its position in Natera by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 96,105 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,213,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Natera during the 4th quarter valued at $373,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.12.

Natera Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $154.53 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.14 and a 12 month high of $183.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.10 billion, a PE ratio of -87.80 and a beta of 1.79. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.15.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.59) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $501.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $446.68 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.56) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.69, for a total value of $590,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at $1,433,183.76. This trade represents a 29.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 87,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.40, for a total transaction of $12,514,804.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 203,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,160,963.60. This represents a 30.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,436 shares of company stock worth $22,019,079 in the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.