Cerity Partners LLC Buys 18,316 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 27.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,144 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,316 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Natera worth $10,936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Natera by 1,073.1% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 65,730 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $7,118,000 after purchasing an additional 60,127 shares during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Natera by 37.9% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 41,302 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,243,000 after acquiring an additional 11,362 shares during the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth $478,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 1st quarter valued at $707,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 50.6% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 13,622 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 4,575 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NTRA shares. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Craig Hallum increased their price target on shares of Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partners upped their target price on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $140.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rowan E. Chapman sold 2,614 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.68, for a total value of $333,755.52. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,017,481.92. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 2,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.57, for a total transaction of $344,439.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 284,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,324,409.37. This trade represents a 0.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,503 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,804 over the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Natera Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA traded down $0.50 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $167.82. 279,409 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,344,409. The stock has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -95.64 and a beta of 1.53. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.88 and a fifty-two week high of $171.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $133.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.08.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.