Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Grows Holdings in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 55,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Natera were worth $9,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Natera by 56.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,537,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,490,144,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795,315 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Natera during the first quarter valued at $113,375,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Natera by 140.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,253,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $177,298,000 after acquiring an additional 732,156 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Natera by 9.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,361,963 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,041,055,000 after acquiring an additional 660,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 149.1% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 562,985 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $95,111,000 after acquiring an additional 336,985 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Up 1.8%

NTRA opened at $204.28 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -89.21 and a beta of 1.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $181.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.75. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.38 and a twelve month high of $212.21.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $592.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.55 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 25.07% and a negative net margin of 14.61%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.26) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NTRA. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Natera to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Natera from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on Natera from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Natera from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $172.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.65.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, insider John Fesko sold 928 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.46, for a total value of $177,674.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 150,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,852,830.54. This represents a 0.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.60, for a total value of $595,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 112,061 shares in the company, valued at $22,255,314.60. The trade was a 2.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 223,336 shares of company stock worth $42,990,633. 5.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.