Hood River Capital Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 30,844 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,821,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Natera during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 109.3% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 47.8% in the first quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 538 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Natera by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,867 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,496 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.66, for a total value of $613,683.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 207,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,209,089.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,496 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.66, for a total value of $613,683.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 207,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,209,089.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,238 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.14, for a total transaction of $115,307.32. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,464,661.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,259 shares of company stock worth $12,600,885 over the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on NTRA. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Natera from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Natera from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $99.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Natera from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.19.

Natera Price Performance

NTRA stock traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $102.67. 1,047,586 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,268,649. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $109.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.32. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.90 and a 52-week high of $117.23. The company has a market capitalization of $12.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.91 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 4.12 and a quick ratio of 3.98.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The medical research company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by $0.16. Natera had a negative net margin of 30.24% and a negative return on equity of 49.72%. The company had revenue of $367.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.23) earnings per share. Natera’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -2.43 earnings per share for the current 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.