West Michigan Advisors LLC Takes Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

West Michigan Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,893 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Natera by 20.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in Natera by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its position in Natera by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,963 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position 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. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in 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 during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRA has been the topic of several research reports. Craig Hallum lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.69.

Natera Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $155.59 on Friday. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $167.56 and its 200 day moving average is $146.67. The company has a market cap of $20.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -88.40 and a beta of 1.66. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $83.13 and a 52 week high of $183.00.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Fesko sold 669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.60, for a total value of $106,772.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,217,063.20. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $12,958,888.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 267,629 shares in the company, valued at $44,150,756.13. This represents a 22.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 295,772 shares of company stock worth $49,741,699. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Natera

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.