Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Buys 12,025 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 179.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,025 shares during the period. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Natera were worth $2,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Natera by 27.0% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 86,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,936,000 after acquiring an additional 18,316 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the third quarter valued at approximately $385,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $573,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the third quarter valued at approximately $505,000. Finally, First Turn Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the third quarter valued at approximately $19,760,000. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $12,958,888.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 267,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,150,756.13. This represents a 22.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.29, for a total transaction of $859,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 143,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,600,516.72. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 298,946 shares of company stock valued at $47,803,462. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NTRA opened at $148.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a PE ratio of -84.22 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $83.13 and a 1-year high of $183.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $164.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.21.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 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.