State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Increases Stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,066 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,897 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.06% of Natera worth $4,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Natera by 224.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Natera during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $364,000. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Natera by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,506 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $642,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Natera by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Natera by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 20,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $912,000 after acquiring an additional 3,384 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Natera Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $91.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.18 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $88.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 3.96. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.90 and a 1-year high of $98.82.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.73) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $311.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.38 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 40.16% and a negative return on equity of 62.19%. Sell-side analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -2.35 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on NTRA shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $70.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Raymond James cut shares of Natera from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Natera from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Natera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 14,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total transaction of $964,178.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,074,431.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 14,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total transaction of $964,178.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,074,431.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total transaction of $127,630.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 70,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,543,232.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 455,349 shares of company stock worth $36,747,623. 9.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.