Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Trims Stock Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. decreased its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 20.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,696 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Natera were worth $1,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Natera by 3.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Natera by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 31,051 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,942,000 after purchasing an additional 6,467 shares during the period. Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in Natera during the 3rd quarter worth $286,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Natera during the 3rd quarter worth $9,157,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Natera by 17.6% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,778 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other Natera news, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.77, for a total transaction of $117,861.51. Following the sale, the insider now owns 156,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,739,941.88. This represents a 0.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $12,958,888.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 267,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,150,756.13. This trade represents a 22.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 307,466 shares of company stock worth $49,047,655. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Natera in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.12.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA opened at $151.15 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $83.13 and a 1-year high of $183.00. The stock has a market cap of $20.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -85.88 and a beta of 1.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal 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.