Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases Shares of 72,128 Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 72,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,157,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.06% of Natera at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Natera by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Natera by 32.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 430 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Natera by 3.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Natera by 3.5% in the third quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Natera by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, August 9th. Leerink Partners increased their price target on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.59.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $169.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. The firm has a market cap of $22.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -96.14 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.00. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.62 and a fifty-two week high of $171.95.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The company had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 9,682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.98, for a total value of $1,548,926.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at $1,552,445.92. This represents a 49.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,024 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.48, for a total transaction of $645,483.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 195,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,141,737.28. This trade represents a 2.50 % 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 worth $6,325,804 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

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.