Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Buys New Shares in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,435 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 657 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,894,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 753.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 27,551 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,361,000 after acquiring an additional 24,324 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 1,328.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 357 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.61, for a total transaction of $606,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,471,223.44. This represents a 29.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 2,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.41, for a total transaction of $354,606.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,557 shares in the company, valued at $10,457,844.37. The trade was a 3.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 152,436 shares of company stock valued at $22,019,079 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA stock opened at $153.32 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. The company has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -87.11 and a beta of 1.79. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.14 and a 12 month high of $183.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $149.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.91.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.59) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $501.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.68 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.56) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.12.

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.