Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Takes Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,706 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $620,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Colonial River Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 4,110 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd now owns 21,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,902,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 683 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 2,661 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 1,724 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.16, for a total transaction of $185,956.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 149,867 shares in the company, valued at $30,896,580.72. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider John Fesko sold 291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.16, for a total value of $59,992.56. Following the sale, the insider owned 187,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,597,275.20. This represents a 0.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,266 shares of company stock worth $7,747,808. 5.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NTRA. William Blair began coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $249.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.60.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $195.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -119.83 and a beta of 1.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $201.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.26. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.81 and a 52 week high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $600.68 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 9.05%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.41) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.59 EPS for the current year.

Natera Profile

Natera is a global diagnostics company that develops and commercializes cell-free DNA and other genetic testing technologies for clinical applications. The company focuses on three principal areas: reproductive health (including non-invasive prenatal testing and carrier screening), oncology (tumor-informed assays for minimal residual disease and recurrence monitoring), and organ transplantation (cell-free DNA tests to detect allograft injury). Natera combines laboratory testing, proprietary bioinformatics, and clinical reporting to deliver personalized genetic information to clinicians and patients.

Key product offerings include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for fetal chromosomal abnormalities and select single-gene conditions; Horizon carrier screening for inherited conditions; Signatera, a personalized, tumor-informed assay used for detecting minimal residual disease and monitoring treatment response in cancer patients; and Prospera, a donor-derived cell-free DNA test used to assess the risk of organ rejection.