Narwhal Capital Management Takes Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Narwhal Capital Management purchased a new position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 6,499 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Natera by 34.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Natera by 32.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 430 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its stake in Natera by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 998 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 16,280 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,577,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Natera by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.45, for a total transaction of $235,955.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 68,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,706,208.95. This represents a 2.64 % 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, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 24,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $4,101,319.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 140,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,208,639.48. This represents a 15.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 243,546 shares of company stock worth $40,338,829. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Natera Stock Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $167.61 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $166.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.43. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.96 and a 12-month high of $183.00. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The firm had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NTRA. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.94.

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.