Townsquare Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Natera by 104.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Natera by 345.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Natera by 372.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Natera by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 1,328.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 357 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.98, for a total transaction of $162,693.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 109,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,827,338.52. This represents a 0.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 5,201 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.87, for a total value of $862,689.87. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 135,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,472,565.21. This represents a 3.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 198,584 shares of company stock worth $30,557,738 in the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Natera Price Performance

NTRA opened at $144.62 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.20 and a 1 year high of $183.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $149.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.04. The stock has a market cap of $19.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -82.17 and a beta of 1.80.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. Analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NTRA. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Robert W. Baird increased 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. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Natera from $200.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.76.

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.