Bellwether Advisors LLC Invests $2.18 Million in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 9,496 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,175,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Allstate Corp grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 105.6% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 9,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,268,000 after purchasing an additional 5,084 shares in the last quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter worth about $3,411,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 83.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 2,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 363,121 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $83,187,000 after purchasing an additional 27,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter worth about $238,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $200.91 on Wednesday. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.81 and a 1-year high of $256.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $201.43 and a 200 day moving average of $215.50. The company has a market capitalization of $28.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -123.26 and a beta of 1.57.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 9.05%.The firm had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.68 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.41) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on NTRA shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. William Blair started coverage on Natera in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 target price on Natera in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 482 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.49, for a total value of $101,456.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 57,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,102,333.04. The trade was a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total value of $693,564.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 142,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,984,068.55. The trade was a 2.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,266 shares of company stock worth $7,747,808. Company insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

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.