MetLife Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

MetLife Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,134 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 140 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in Natera by 148.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Natera by 50.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Natera by 34.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the third quarter valued at approximately $70,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Natera Stock Up 1.6 %

NTRA stock opened at $171.65 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.66 billion, a PE ratio of -97.53 and a beta of 1.63. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.56 and a 52 week high of $175.63. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $140.16 and a 200 day moving average of $122.43.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on NTRA shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.59.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, Director Roelof Botha sold 87,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.12, for a total value of $14,793,433.76. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,224,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,135,977.44. This represents a 6.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,024 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.48, for a total value of $645,483.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 195,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,141,737.28. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 133,976 shares of company stock valued at $21,119,238. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

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.