Csenge Advisory Group Buys New Shares in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Csenge Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 2,745 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $629,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Natera during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Natera by 123.4% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.60.

Natera Stock Performance

Natera stock opened at $203.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.17 billion, a PE ratio of -124.96 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $200.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.41. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.81 and a twelve month high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $600.68 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.05% and a negative return on equity of 14.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.41) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total value of $693,564.45. Following the transaction, the insider owned 142,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,984,068.55. This represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 1,688 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.10, for a total transaction of $344,520.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 187,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,270,995.10. This represents a 0.89% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 38,266 shares of company stock worth $7,747,808 in the last 90 days. 5.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Natera

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.