Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Raises Holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 4,082.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,821 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,634 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Natera were worth $847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NTRA. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Natera by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Natera in the first quarter worth $36,000. Tobam purchased a new position in Natera during the second quarter worth $74,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Natera during the first quarter valued at $83,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on NTRA shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, September 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Natera from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Natera from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 37,500 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.10, for a total transaction of $4,053,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 213,351 shares in the company, valued at $23,063,243.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 37,500 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.10, for a total transaction of $4,053,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 213,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,063,243.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.57, for a total value of $344,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 284,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,324,409.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 93,921 shares of company stock worth $10,551,281. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Natera Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $123.54 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $114.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.76. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.90 and a 1-year high of $132.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.14 and a quick ratio of 4.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.60 and a beta of 1.53.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.69) by $0.39. Natera had a negative return on equity of 36.74% and a negative net margin of 21.47%. The firm had revenue of $413.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $343.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.97) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.96 EPS 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.