Farallon Capital Management LLC Purchases 532,874 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,460,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 532,874 shares during the period. Natera comprises approximately 2.3% of Farallon Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Farallon Capital Management LLC owned about 3.63% of Natera worth $483,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NTRA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Natera by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,044,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,010,152,000 after acquiring an additional 72,848 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Natera by 6.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,397,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $259,634,000 after purchasing an additional 148,917 shares in the last quarter. Avidity Partners Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Avidity Partners Management LP now owns 1,110,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $69,530,000 after purchasing an additional 211,000 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Natera by 13.9% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 983,312 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $106,483,000 after purchasing an additional 119,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perceptive Advisors LLC increased its stake in Natera by 289.7% in the 4th quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 850,225 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $53,258,000 after buying an additional 632,047 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NTRA shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com lowered Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Natera from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.07.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 37,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.10, for a total value of $4,053,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 213,351 shares in the company, valued at $23,063,243.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 2,700 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.57, for a total transaction of $344,439.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 284,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,324,409.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 37,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.10, for a total value of $4,053,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 213,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,063,243.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,921 shares of company stock worth $10,551,281 over the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA opened at $123.54 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a PE ratio of -39.60 and a beta of 1.53. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $36.90 and a one year high of $132.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $114.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.76.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted 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 return on equity of 36.74% and a negative net margin of 21.47%. The business had revenue of $413.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $343.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.97) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.96 earnings per share for the current 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.