Aubrey Capital Management Ltd Purchases Shares of 16,200 Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Aubrey Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 16,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,607,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in Natera in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Natera during the third quarter worth $46,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 256.8% during the second quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 314 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Price Performance

NTRA opened at $242.78 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $232.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.23. The firm has a market cap of $33.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -106.02 and a beta of 1.62. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.38 and a 1 year high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released 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 company had revenue of $592.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $514.55 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.26) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,848 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.08, for a total transaction of $881,499.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 136,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,284,997.44. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 value of $1,061,374.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,404,388.70. This represents a 43.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 339,029 shares of company stock worth $72,768,595 over the last ninety days. 5.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Natera from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.50.

Natera Profile

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.