Kennedy Capital Management LLC Has $535,000 Stock Holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 22.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,381 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Natera by 2.4% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,319 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in shares of Natera by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 7.9% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 5,513 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 113.1% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,486 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $950,000 after buying an additional 3,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the third quarter valued at approximately $385,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NTRA shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.76.

Natera Price Performance

NTRA stock opened at $151.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -86.22 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $151.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.40. 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 $83.13 and a 52-week high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.91 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.78, for a total transaction of $563,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,366,129.12. This trade represents a 29.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 24,861 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 140,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,208,639.48. The trade was a 15.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 325,922 shares of company stock valued at $51,603,664 over the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Natera Company 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.