Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,012,498 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 28,751 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.82% of Natera worth $128,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 148.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Tobam acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at $74,000. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 891 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,866 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.45, for a total value of $235,955.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 68,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,706,208.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,866 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.45, for a total value of $235,955.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 68,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,706,208.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 256 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.07, for a total transaction of $30,737.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,891 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,434,752.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,164 shares of company stock valued at $6,157,291. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Natera Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NTRA traded up $3.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $134.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,228,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 872,423. The company's 50 day moving average price is $124.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.75. The stock has a market cap of $16.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -54.74 and a beta of 1.53. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.77 and a 52 week high of $134.33. The company has a quick ratio of 4.01, a current ratio of 4.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.69) by $0.39. The company had revenue of $413.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $343.00 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 21.47% and a negative return on equity of 36.74%. The company's revenue was up 58.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.97) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.96 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 report on Friday, August 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Natera from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $125.69.

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.