Commerce Bank Buys Shares of 2,251 Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Natera during the first quarter valued at about $220,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Natera by 22.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 669,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $61,276,000 after purchasing an additional 121,809 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera in the first quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Comerica Bank raised its stake in shares of Natera by 458.0% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 14,866 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 12,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera in the first quarter valued at approximately $707,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natera Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NTRA opened at $168.45 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -95.58 and a beta of 1.53. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.08. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.88 and a twelve month high of $171.95.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.95) EPS. Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.66 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NTRA. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Natera from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. One 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 2,700 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.57, for a total transaction of $344,439.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 284,741 shares in the company, valued at $36,324,409.37. This trade represents a 0.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,024 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.48, for a total transaction of $645,483.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 195,686 shares in the company, valued at $25,141,737.28. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,503 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,804. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.