Castle Hook Partners LP Boosts Stock Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Castle Hook Partners LP grew its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,222,578 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,488 shares during the period. Natera makes up about 2.4% of Castle Hook Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Castle Hook Partners LP’s holdings in Natera were worth $193,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Natera by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its position in Natera by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,963 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 104.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems grew its position in shares of Natera by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 6,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $981,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.77, for a total transaction of $117,861.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 156,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,739,941.88. The trade was a 0.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 495 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.74, for a total transaction of $74,616.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,312 shares in the company, valued at $11,503,270.88. This represents a 0.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 153,099 shares of company stock valued at $22,136,941. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Natera from $200.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.76.

Natera Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $157.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $21.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -89.42 and a beta of 1.80. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.14 and a 12 month high of $183.00. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $146.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.84.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.01. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The firm had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.91 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

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.