Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Acquires New Stake in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,227,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,135 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,219,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 4.9% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,580 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. boosted its position in Natera by 4.2% during the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Natera by 5.0% during the first quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,737 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in Natera by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 160,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.96, for a total value of $32,134,171.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 144,816 shares in the company, valued at $28,957,407.36. The trade was a 52.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rowan E. Chapman sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.99, for a total transaction of $459,222.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,444.85. The trade was a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 223,336 shares of company stock valued at $42,990,633. 5.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Natera from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Stephens increased their target price on Natera from $197.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research lowered Natera from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Natera from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $172.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, October 27th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.65.

Natera Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $204.28 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $28.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -89.21 and a beta of 1.74. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.38 and a 12-month high of $212.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $181.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.75.

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