Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,982 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 104.3% in 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 during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Natera by 345.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Natera by 372.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $54,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 1,328.0% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 357 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.12.

Natera Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $133.87 on Monday. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $83.13 and a fifty-two week high of $183.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $156.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.57. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $18.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.06 and a beta of 1.80.

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 business 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.77, for a total value of $117,861.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 156,044 shares in the company, valued at $27,739,941.88. This represents a 0.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 267,629 shares in the company, valued at $44,150,756.13. This trade represents a 22.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 325,922 shares of company stock valued at $51,603,664. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

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.