Merit Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,487 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP grew its stake in Natera by 148.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Natera by 345.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Natera by 32.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 430 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Natera during the third quarter worth $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Leerink Partners increased their price target on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of the company’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 $12,958,888.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 267,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,150,756.13. This represents a 22.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total value of $350,668.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,386 shares in the company, valued at $3,073,262.58. The trade was a 10.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 224,133 shares of company stock valued at $36,830,652 over the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Natera Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Natera stock opened at $171.82 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $165.35 and a 200-day moving average of $135.41. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.96 and a 52-week high of $183.00. The stock has a market cap of $22.68 billion, a PE ratio of -97.63 and a beta of 1.65.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.95) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.61 EPS for the current year.

Natera 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.