Trek Financial LLC Purchases New Shares in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Trek Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 22,888 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,623,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of NTRA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Natera by 43.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 worth $355,493,000 after buying an additional 1,883,481 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $224,040,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Natera in the 4th quarter valued at $146,419,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Natera by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,949,697,000 after acquiring an additional 879,463 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NTRA. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.12.

Natera Price Performance

Natera stock opened at $133.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $156.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.40. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $83.13 and a 12-month high of $183.00. The stock has a market cap of $18.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -76.06 and a beta of 1.80.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 25,931 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $4,277,837.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 109,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,091,435.05. This trade represents a 19.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.48, for a total transaction of $421,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 141,782 shares in the company, valued at $19,917,535.36. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 325,922 shares of company stock valued at $51,603,664 over the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.