Gries Financial LLC Acquires New Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Gries Financial LLC bought a new position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,804 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Natera by 148.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Natera by 345.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 34.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NTRA. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Leerink Partners increased their price target on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Natera from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $165.88.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 4,335 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.87, for a total transaction of $719,046.45. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 103,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,200,221.39. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,728 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.41, for a total transaction of $692,226.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 185,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,090,827.94. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 268,229 shares of company stock worth $44,521,025. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of Natera stock traded down $0.36 on Monday, hitting $176.56. 1,246,252 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,387,124. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.68 and a 1 year high of $183.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.31 billion, a PE ratio of -100.32 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. The business had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

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.