Narwhal Capital Management Has $1.41 Million Stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Narwhal Capital Management grew its holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 53.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,494 shares during the quarter. Narwhal Capital Management’s holdings in Natera were worth $1,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Natera by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,949,697,000 after acquiring an additional 879,463 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 134.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,742,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,067,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,871,862 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,060,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036,396 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Natera by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,240,041 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $512,898,000 after buying an additional 439,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,232,681 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $355,809,000 after buying an additional 142,201 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NTRA. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Natera from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Natera in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 17th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 2,562 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.41, for a total value of $354,606.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,457,844.37. This trade represents a 3.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 9,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.41, for a total value of $1,323,614.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 212,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,417,799.81. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,755 shares of company stock worth $8,898,589 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Natera Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $170.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -115.90 and a beta of 1.74. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $92.14 and a 1 year high of $183.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $157.44 and a 200-day moving average of $158.45.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.59) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $501.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $446.68 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 18.29% and a negative net margin of 10.36%. The business’s revenue was up 36.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.56) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.