HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 32,395 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 29.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 140,931 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,395 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $38,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Natera by 28,373.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 56,324,789 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $15,289,364,000 after purchasing an additional 56,126,974 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Natera by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,768 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Natera by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,987 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank boosted its stake in Natera by 94.3% in the 2nd quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 9,425 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,558,000 after purchasing an additional 4,575 shares during the period. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG boosted its stake in Natera by 48.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven Chapman sold 1,698 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.99, for a total transaction of $545,041.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 98,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,520,897.01. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Fesko sold 6,517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.53, for a total transaction of $2,095,411.01. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 197,257 shares in the company, valued at $63,424,043.21. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 71,206 shares of company stock worth $19,944,069 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $315.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group set a $260.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $375.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.50.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $324.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -238.34 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $294.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $239.44. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $157.43 and a 1 year high of $343.18.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.24 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 11.38% and a negative net margin of 7.11%.Natera’s revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.74) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.