Renaissance Technologies LLC Reduces Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lessened its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 394,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 61,807 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $62,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NTRA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Natera by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,060,836,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036,396 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Natera during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $224,040,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Natera during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $146,419,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Natera by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,949,697,000 after acquiring an additional 879,463 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,240,041 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $512,898,000 after purchasing an additional 439,778 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natera Trading Up 14.9 %

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $151.97 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $153.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.75. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $83.13 and a twelve month high of $183.00. The company has a market capitalization of $20.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -86.35 and a beta of 1.80. 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 (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. Research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.78, for a total transaction of $563,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at $1,366,129.12. This trade represents a 29.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 24,861 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $4,101,319.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 140,684 shares in the company, valued at $23,208,639.48. This represents a 15.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 325,922 shares of company stock worth $51,603,664 in the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NTRA shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.12.

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.