Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Grows Stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 13.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 480,742 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,853 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $61,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Natera by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Natera by 32.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 430 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Natera by 3.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. RiverPark Advisors LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 9,682 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at $1,552,445.92. This trade represents a 49.94 % 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 4,728 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.41, for a total transaction of $692,226.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 185,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,090,827.94. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,503 shares of company stock worth $6,325,804. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Natera Stock Down 0.4 %

NTRA opened at $167.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.15 billion, a PE ratio of -95.33 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.41. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.56 and a 52 week high of $171.95.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced 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 return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Natera from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.