Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Cuts Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 259,146 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 7,941 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.20% of Natera worth $41,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NTRA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Natera by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,060,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036,396 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Natera by 205.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $355,493,000 after buying an additional 1,883,481 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Natera during the 4th quarter valued at $146,419,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Natera by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,949,697,000 after acquiring an additional 879,463 shares during the period. Finally, PointState Capital LP raised its position in Natera by 112.0% during the 3rd quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 782,538 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $99,343,000 after purchasing an additional 413,468 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on NTRA shares. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.12.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA traded down $1.55 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $142.39. 1,261,088 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,364,371. The stock has a market cap of $19.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -80.81 and a beta of 1.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $159.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.13. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $83.13 and a 1 year high of $183.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $447.91 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $12,958,888.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 267,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,150,756.13. The trade was a 22.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.77, for a total value of $117,861.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 156,044 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,739,941.88. The trade was a 0.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 306,797 shares of company stock worth $48,940,883 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Natera 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.