Marshall Wace LLP Purchases 334,630 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 53.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 958,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 334,630 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Natera were worth $103,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NTRA. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Natera by 50.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Natera during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Natera in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Tobam purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the second quarter worth $74,000. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 9th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Natera from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.07.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.40, for a total value of $53,592.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 77,418 shares in the company, valued at $8,314,693.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.40, for a total transaction of $53,592.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 77,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,314,693.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 2,700 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.57, for a total transaction of $344,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 284,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,324,409.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,921 shares of company stock valued at $10,551,281 in the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Natera Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NTRA opened at $123.08 on Wednesday. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.90 and a 12-month high of $132.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $114.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.14 and a quick ratio of 4.01.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.69) by $0.39. Natera had a negative net margin of 21.47% and a negative return on equity of 36.74%. The company had revenue of $413.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $343.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.97) earnings per share. Natera’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.96 EPS for the current year.

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.