Commerce Bank Purchases Shares of 2,251 Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Commerce Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 2,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NTRA. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Natera by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 669,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $61,276,000 after purchasing an additional 121,809 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the 1st quarter worth approximately $292,000. Comerica Bank grew its stake in Natera by 458.0% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 14,866 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 12,202 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Natera in the 1st quarter valued at $707,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Natera

In related news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 9,682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.98, for a total transaction of $1,548,926.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,552,445.92. This trade represents a 49.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,728 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.41, for a total value of $692,226.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 185,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,090,827.94. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,503 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,804 over the last quarter. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.59.

Natera Stock Up 0.1 %

Natera stock opened at $168.45 on Thursday. 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 market capitalization of $22.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -95.58 and a beta of 1.53. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.88 and a fifty-two week high of $171.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $133.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.08.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. The company had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. Natera’s revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.66 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.