Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Takes Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,319 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Natera by 13.6% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,460,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $483,034,000 after acquiring an additional 532,874 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Natera by 205.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,481 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Natera by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,482,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $315,194,000 after purchasing an additional 85,236 shares during the last quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC increased its stake in Natera by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 1,974,880 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $213,860,000 after purchasing an additional 45,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 25.2% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,340,045 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $170,119,000 after buying an additional 269,706 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rowan E. Chapman sold 1,767 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.24, for a total value of $300,814.08. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,202 shares in the company, valued at $1,055,828.48. This trade represents a 22.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.57, for a total transaction of $344,439.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 284,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,324,409.37. This trade represents a 0.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 132,963 shares of company stock worth $21,250,107. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $166.55 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.99 billion, a PE ratio of -94.63 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $144.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.66. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.22 and a 1 year high of $175.63.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The business had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.95) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NTRA shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $152.67.

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.