Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Makes New $232,000 Investment in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Natera by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,460,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $483,034,000 after buying an additional 532,874 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Natera by 257.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 651,523 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,553,000 after acquiring an additional 469,327 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Natera by 53.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $103,783,000 after purchasing an additional 334,630 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Natera by 311.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 406,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $44,036,000 after purchasing an additional 307,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in Natera by 36.1% during the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,145,362 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $124,031,000 after purchasing an additional 303,905 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Performance

Natera stock opened at $167.78 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $22.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -95.33 and a beta of 1.53. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.56 and a 52 week high of $171.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $135.51 and a 200-day moving average of $120.41.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 9,682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.98, for a total value of $1,548,926.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at $1,552,445.92. This trade represents a 49.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rowan E. Chapman sold 2,614 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.68, for a total transaction of $333,755.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,017,481.92. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,503 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,804. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on NTRA shares. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.59.

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.