Atika Capital Management LLC Acquires 7,700 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Atika Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 71,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,700 shares during the quarter. Natera comprises approximately 1.2% of Atika Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Atika Capital Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Natera worth $11,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in Natera by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,963 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Natera by 104.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Natera by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 998 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 24,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $4,101,319.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 140,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,208,639.48. This trade represents a 15.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.69, for a total value of $590,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at $1,433,183.76. This trade represents a 29.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 325,922 shares of company stock valued at $51,603,664 over the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Natera Price Performance

NTRA stock opened at $133.87 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $83.13 and a 1 year high of $183.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23. The stock has a market cap of $18.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.06 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.40.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The company had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.91 million. Research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 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.