Empowered Funds LLC Invests $5.33 Million in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 41,954 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,326,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Natera by 148.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Natera by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total transaction of $350,668.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,073,262.58. The trade was a 10.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,024 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.48, for a total transaction of $645,483.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,141,737.28. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,821 shares of company stock valued at $4,776,878. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Craig Hallum lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.65.

Natera Stock Down 3.3 %

NTRA opened at $146.06 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.76. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.01 and a 12 month high of $167.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -82.99 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.01.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The company had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share 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.