Caprock Group LLC Makes New $213,000 Investment in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Natera by 205.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $355,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,481 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Natera by 3.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,482,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $315,194,000 after buying an additional 85,236 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Natera by 7.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,090,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $265,747,000 after buying an additional 143,825 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in Natera by 25.2% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,340,045 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $170,119,000 after acquiring an additional 269,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Natera by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,229,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $156,092,000 after acquiring an additional 246,246 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total transaction of $350,668.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,386 shares in the company, valued at $3,073,262.58. The trade was a 10.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 $27,739,941.88. The trade was a 0.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 312,394 shares of company stock worth $52,333,520. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NTRA. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.88.

Natera Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $172.82 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $167.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $140.02. The company has a market cap of $22.82 billion, a PE ratio of -98.19 and a beta of 1.66. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.33 and a fifty-two week high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The company had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.95) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

About Natera

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.