Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,500 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $712,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NTRA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,949,697,000 after purchasing an additional 879,463 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Natera by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,060,836,000 after buying an additional 2,036,396 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Natera by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,240,041 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $512,898,000 after buying an additional 439,778 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Natera by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,232,681 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $355,809,000 after acquiring an additional 142,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Natera by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,538,875 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $243,604,000 after purchasing an additional 439,540 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 24,861 shares of Natera 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 $4,101,319.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 140,684 shares in the company, valued at $23,208,639.48. The trade was a 15.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.78, for a total value of $563,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at $1,366,129.12. This represents a 29.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 325,922 shares of company stock worth $51,603,664 in the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on NTRA shares. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Natera from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Natera from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $175.76.

Natera Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Natera stock traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $148.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 887,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,394,376. The business has a fifty day moving average of $152.09 and a 200 day moving average of $152.40. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $83.13 and a 1-year high of $183.00. 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 company has a market capitalization of $20.07 billion, a PE ratio of -84.35 and a beta of 1.80.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The company had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.91 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 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.