Avanza Fonder AB Takes $1.02 Million Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,020,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 34.3% in 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 430 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Natera by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 16,280 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,577,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Natera by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NTRA. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.63.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total value of $350,668.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,073,262.58. This trade represents a 10.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Fesko sold 669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.60, for a total value of $106,772.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 114,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,217,063.20. The trade was a 0.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 121,092 shares of company stock worth $19,765,830. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Natera Trading Down 6.0 %

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $158.36 on Monday. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.96 and a 12-month high of $183.00. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $164.00 and a 200-day moving average of $134.44. The firm has a market cap of $20.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -89.98 and a beta of 1.65.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.95) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

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.