Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $3,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Natera by 34.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 998 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Natera by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 16,280 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,577,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted 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 last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 946 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.98, for a total transaction of $162,693.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 109,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,827,338.52. This represents a 0.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,960 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.21, for a total value of $468,111.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 189,762 shares in the company, valued at $22,431,766.02. The trade was a 2.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 249,940 shares of company stock valued at $41,094,664 over the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Natera Trading Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $167.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -95.23 and a beta of 1.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $166.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.96 and a 52 week high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. The company had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.95) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal 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.