Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,012,498 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 28,751 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.82% of Natera worth $128,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Natera by 148.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Natera by 50.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Tobam acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the second quarter valued at about $74,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 256 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.07, for a total transaction of $30,737.92. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,891 shares in the company, valued at $13,434,752.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $13,434,752.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 2,700 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.82, for a total transaction of $307,314.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 299,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,082,374.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,164 shares of company stock valued at $6,157,291. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on NTRA shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Leerink Partners boosted their price target on Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Natera from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.69.

Natera Stock Up 2.9 %

NTRA stock opened at $134.11 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $124.35 and its 200 day moving average is $113.60. The firm has a market cap of $16.59 billion, a PE ratio of -54.74 and a beta of 1.53. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $44.77 and a one year high of $134.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a current ratio of 4.14.

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

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.