Synovus Financial Corp Reduces Stock Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Synovus Financial Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 23,800 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 963 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Natera were worth $3,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Natera by 13.6% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,460,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $483,034,000 after acquiring an additional 532,874 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Natera by 257.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 651,523 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $70,553,000 after acquiring an additional 469,327 shares during the period. PointState Capital LP boosted its position in Natera by 112.0% in the third quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 782,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $99,343,000 after purchasing an additional 413,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Natera by 53.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $103,783,000 after purchasing an additional 334,630 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NTRA shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $152.67.

Natera Trading Up 0.1 %

NTRA stock opened at $166.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.22 and a 1-year high of $175.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.56. The company has a market capitalization of $21.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -94.63 and a beta of 1.63.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. The firm 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%. Natera’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Roelof Botha sold 87,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.12, for a total transaction of $14,793,433.76. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,224,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,135,977.44. This represents a 6.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,024 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.48, for a total transaction of $645,483.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,141,737.28. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 137,987 shares of company stock worth $21,895,591 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

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.