Cerity Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 12.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 109,463 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 11,890 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $17,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NTRA. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new stake in Natera during the second quarter worth $36,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Natera by 95.7% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 225 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the second quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 256.8% during the 2nd quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 314 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 2,951 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.95, for a total value of $675,631.45. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 123,499 shares in the company, valued at $28,275,096.05. This trade represents a 2.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rowan E. Chapman sold 4,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.10, for a total transaction of $1,061,374.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,404,388.70. The trade was a 43.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 343,280 shares of company stock worth $73,566,011. 5.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Natera from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. BTIG Research raised their price target on Natera from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 1st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $241.18.

Natera Price Performance

NTRA stock opened at $234.31 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $227.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.09. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.38 and a 1-year high of $256.36. The firm has a market cap of $32.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -102.32 and a beta of 1.62.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by ($0.25). Natera had a negative net margin of 14.61% and a negative return on equity of 25.07%. The business had revenue of $592.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.26) EPS. Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Natera

Natera is a global diagnostics company that develops and commercializes cell-free DNA and other genetic testing technologies for clinical applications. The company focuses on three principal areas: reproductive health (including non-invasive prenatal testing and carrier screening), oncology (tumor-informed assays for minimal residual disease and recurrence monitoring), and organ transplantation (cell-free DNA tests to detect allograft injury). Natera combines laboratory testing, proprietary bioinformatics, and clinical reporting to deliver personalized genetic information to clinicians and patients.

Key product offerings include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for fetal chromosomal abnormalities and select single-gene conditions; Horizon carrier screening for inherited conditions; Signatera, a personalized, tumor-informed assay used for detecting minimal residual disease and monitoring treatment response in cancer patients; and Prospera, a donor-derived cell-free DNA test used to assess the risk of organ rejection.