IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Purchases 1,910 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd grew its position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 97.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,869 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,910 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Natera were worth $612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Natera by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,949,697,000 after acquiring an additional 879,463 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,060,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036,396 shares during the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 1,883,481 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Natera by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,090,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $265,747,000 after purchasing an additional 143,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in Natera by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,340,045 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $170,119,000 after buying an additional 269,706 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on NTRA. StockNews.com upgraded Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Natera from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.12.

Natera Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $143.94 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $83.13 and a twelve month high of $183.00. The stock has a market cap of $19.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -81.78 and a beta of 1.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $159.60 and a 200 day moving average of $150.72. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.01. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The business had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.91 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $12,958,888.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 267,629 shares in the company, valued at $44,150,756.13. The trade was a 22.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 43,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.88, for a total value of $7,694,633.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,492,857.52. The trade was a 38.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 306,797 shares of company stock worth $48,940,883. Company 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.