Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Shares Purchased by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,319 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 245 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $1,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Natera by 34.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Natera by 32.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 430 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Natera by 3.3% in 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 in the last quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Natera by 3.5% in the third quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Natera stock opened at $170.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $144.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.09. The company has a market cap of $22.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -97.05 and a beta of 1.63. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.22 and a 1 year high of $175.63.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.95) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NTRA shares. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Natera from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $152.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 4,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.59, for a total transaction of $809,294.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 114,912 shares in the company, valued at $19,143,190.08. This trade represents a 4.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,523 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total value of $589,799.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 191,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,927,655.20. This trade represents a 2.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 132,963 shares of company stock valued at $21,250,107. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Natera 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.