American Century Companies Inc. Sells 502,018 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 33.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 995,372 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 502,018 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.75% of Natera worth $157,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Natera by 27.0% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 86,144 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $10,936,000 after acquiring an additional 18,316 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Natera during the 3rd quarter valued at about $385,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Natera in the 4th quarter valued at about $573,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at about $505,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 657 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NTRA. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Natera from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Natera in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.12.

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Natera Stock Performance

Shares of Natera stock traded down $1.54 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $148.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 641,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,334,047. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $83.13 and a one year high of $183.00. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $159.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. The stock has a market cap of $20.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -84.26 and a beta of 1.80.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The business had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.91 million. As a group, analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.29, for a total value of $859,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 143,768 shares in the company, valued at $20,600,516.72. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $12,958,888.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 267,629 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,150,756.13. The trade was a 22.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 306,797 shares of company stock worth $48,940,883 over the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.