Natera, Inc. $NTRA Stock: Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Increases Position

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,946 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,022 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Natera were worth $23,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Natera by 3.0% in the third quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $592,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at about $220,000. Calamos Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Natera by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 5,516 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,280,000 after buying an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $434,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on NTRA. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $320.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Natera from $290.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Natera from $458.00 to $403.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $355.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Natera from $350.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $394.31.

Natera Trading Up 2.5%

Natera stock opened at $319.82 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $379.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $270.81. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $181.00 and a one year high of $437.41.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.42) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by ($0.14). Natera had a negative return on equity of 8.61% and a negative net margin of 5.66%. The business had revenue of $793.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $707.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.64) EPS. Natera’s revenue was up 34.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Chapman sold 3,801 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.80, for a total value of $1,565,251.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 87,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,004,085.80. This trade represents a 4.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider John Fesko sold 302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.01, for a total transaction of $120,803.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 195,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,112,352.76. This represents a 0.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 47,056 shares of company stock valued at $17,760,989 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Natera Company Profile

Natera, Inc. is a diagnostics company that develops and provides genetic testing and molecular diagnostics for reproductive health, oncology and organ health. Its tests analyze cell-free DNA and other genetic material to support screening, diagnosis and disease monitoring. In reproductive health, Natera offers Panorama, a noninvasive prenatal screening test, and Horizon, a carrier screening test. Its oncology portfolio includes Signatera, a personalized circulating tumor DNA test used to monitor for molecular residual disease and assess cancer recurrence.