First Horizon Advisors Inc. Acquires 554 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 36.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,089 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 554 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Natera were worth $131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Natera by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,216 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in Natera by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 45,469 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,012,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Natera by 1.8% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,506 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its position in Natera by 109.3% in the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 745 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 9.2% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Raymond James cut shares of Natera from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Natera from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $70.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.40.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 93,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.37, for a total transaction of $6,513,912.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 61,685 shares in the company, valued at $4,279,088.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Natera news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 93,901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.37, for a total value of $6,513,912.37. Following the sale, the director now owns 61,685 shares in the company, valued at $4,279,088.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel Rabinowitz sold 35,307 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.09, for a total transaction of $2,651,202.63. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 204,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,334,729.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 380,750 shares of company stock worth $31,864,820. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $97.21 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $91.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.07. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.90 and a fifty-two week high of $98.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 3.96.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.73) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $311.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.38 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 40.16% and a negative return on equity of 62.19%. On average, analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Natera Profile

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.