Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,280 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Natera were worth $2,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Natera by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Natera by 32.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 430 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position 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 worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in shares of Natera by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,581 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Natera from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.00.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, Director Rowan E. Chapman sold 1,767 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.24, for a total value of $300,814.08. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,202 shares in the company, valued at $1,055,828.48. This trade represents a 22.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,196 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.21, for a total transaction of $141,379.16. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 110,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,085,255.95. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 123,409 shares of company stock worth $20,045,631. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $169.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23. The firm has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a PE ratio of -96.19 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $132.44. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.80 and a 1-year high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released 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. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The firm had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.95) EPS. Natera’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.61 EPS for the current year.

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.