Portolan Capital Management LLC Sells 82,897 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Portolan Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 49.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 83,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 82,897 shares during the period. Portolan Capital Management LLC owned 0.06% of Natera worth $10,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NTRA. Comerica Bank raised its stake in shares of Natera by 458.0% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 14,866 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,360,000 after buying an additional 12,202 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Natera by 514.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,802,000 after purchasing an additional 16,496 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera during the first quarter worth $442,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the 1st quarter valued at $83,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Natera by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA opened at $169.17 on Wednesday. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.56 and a 52-week high of $171.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.33 billion, a PE ratio of -96.12 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $137.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.28.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The business had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.95) earnings per share. Natera’s revenue was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on NTRA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Natera from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, Director Rowan E. Chapman sold 2,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.68, for a total value of $333,755.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,017,481.92. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 9,682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.98, for a total value of $1,548,926.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at $1,552,445.92. This represents a 49.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,503 shares of company stock worth $6,325,804. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

About Natera

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.