Alberta Investment Management Corp Sells 5,011,459 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Alberta Investment Management Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 99.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,011,459 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Natera were worth $4,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in Natera by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its stake in Natera by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,963 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Natera by 104.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NTRA. Craig Hallum upped their target price on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com lowered Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.88.

Natera Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $172.61 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.79 billion, a PE ratio of -98.07 and a beta of 1.66. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.03 and a 1-year high of $183.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $168.03 and a 200 day moving average of $144.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $12,958,888.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 267,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,150,756.13. This trade represents a 22.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Roelof Botha sold 87,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.12, for a total value of $14,793,433.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,224,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,135,977.44. The trade was a 6.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 295,772 shares of company stock worth $49,741,699. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Natera Company 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.