Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 4,084 Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,084 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $518,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Natera by 13.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 532,874 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised 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 buying an additional 469,327 shares in the last quarter. PointState Capital LP boosted its stake in Natera by 112.0% during the third quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 782,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $99,343,000 after buying an additional 413,468 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Natera by 53.6% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $103,783,000 after buying an additional 334,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Natera by 311.9% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 406,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $44,036,000 after acquiring an additional 307,920 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $171.65 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -97.53 and a beta of 1.63. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $55.56 and a one year high of $175.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.63.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. The company had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.95) EPS. Analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In related news, Director Roelof Botha sold 87,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.12, for a total transaction of $14,793,433.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,224,787 shares in the company, valued at $207,135,977.44. This represents a 6.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 9,682 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.98, for a total transaction of $1,548,926.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,552,445.92. This trade represents a 49.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,976 shares of company stock worth $21,119,238. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NTRA shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.59.

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.