Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,001 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $1,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Natera by 345.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 148.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Natera by 34.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Natera by 32.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 430 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,196 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.21, for a total transaction of $141,379.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 110,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,085,255.95. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 1,709 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.76, for a total value of $206,378.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 194,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,501,707.40. This trade represents a 0.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 123,409 shares of company stock valued at $20,045,631 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on NTRA. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.00.

Natera Price Performance

NTRA opened at $165.76 on Wednesday. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.80 and a twelve month high of $183.00. The firm has a market cap of $21.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -94.18 and a beta of 1.65. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $161.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.26.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. The business had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.61 EPS for the current fiscal 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.