Rockingstone Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 16,326 Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Rockingstone Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 16,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,584,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Natera by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,197 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,187,000 after buying an additional 2,611 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Natera by 1.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 187,438 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $20,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Natera by 6.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,397,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $259,634,000 after acquiring an additional 148,917 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 35.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 264,801 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,680,000 after acquiring an additional 69,523 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Natera by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 216,500 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $23,445,000 after acquiring an additional 16,317 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Up 2.8 %

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $170.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.80 and a 52 week high of $183.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -96.79 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $162.75 and a 200-day moving average of $133.52.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.95) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, insider John Fesko sold 669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.60, for a total value of $106,772.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 114,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,217,063.20. This trade represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.07, for a total value of $30,737.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,434,752.37. This represents a 0.23 % 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 over the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on NTRA. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com cut Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.00.

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.