Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Buys 7,340 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 26.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 7,340 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Natera were worth $5,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of NTRA. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Natera by 104.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 345.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Natera by 34.3% in 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 during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Natera by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Natera during the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NTRA. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Natera from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.56.

Natera Stock Up 3.9 %

NTRA opened at $147.92 on Thursday. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $83.13 and a 1-year high of $183.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $147.62. 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 market capitalization of $19.53 billion, a PE ratio of -84.05 and a beta of 1.66.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, insider John Fesko sold 669 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.60, for a total transaction of $106,772.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 114,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,217,063.20. This trade represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 43,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.88, for a total value of $7,694,633.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,492,857.52. The trade was a 38.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,299 shares of company stock worth $34,948,265 over the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.