Narwhal Capital Management Purchases Shares of 6,499 Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Narwhal Capital Management purchased a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,499 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Natera by 35.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 264,801 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,680,000 after buying an additional 69,523 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Natera by 58.3% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 72,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,068,000 after acquiring an additional 26,615 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 24.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 36,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,926,000 after acquiring an additional 7,132 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth about $317,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC raised its stake in Natera by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 84,510 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,152,000 after purchasing an additional 8,274 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Natera Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $167.61 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.96 and a fifty-two week high of $183.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $166.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.43.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.95) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on NTRA. Craig Hallum raised their price target on shares of Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price 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. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Leerink Partners increased their price target on Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,728 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.41, for a total transaction of $692,226.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 185,034 shares in the company, valued at $27,090,827.94. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 24,861 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $4,101,319.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 140,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,208,639.48. This trade represents a 15.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 243,546 shares of company stock worth $40,338,829 over the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Natera Company 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.