Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,099,335 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 328,375 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.83% of Natera worth $144,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NTRA. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Natera by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 430 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Natera by 3.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Natera by 3.5% in the third quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Natera by 5.4% in the third quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,523 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total value of $589,799.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 191,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,927,655.20. This trade represents a 2.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rowan E. Chapman sold 1,767 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.24, for a total transaction of $300,814.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,055,828.48. This trade represents a 22.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 132,963 shares of company stock valued at $21,250,107. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $166.55 on Monday. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.22 and a 1-year high of $175.63. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $144.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.66. The stock 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The business had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Natera’s revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $152.67.

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.