Abbot Financial Management Inc. Purchases New Stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Key Points

• Abbot Financial Management Inc. purchased 3,075 shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) valued at approximately $435,000 during the first quarter.
• Natera reported a 36.5% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, with total revenue of $501.83 million, also surpassing analysts' estimates.
• The company's consensus analyst rating is currently "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $184.63, despite one analyst issuing a sell rating.

Abbot Financial Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,075 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $435,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Natera by 117.8% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 220 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Natera during the first quarter worth $32,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new position in Natera in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Natera by 42.7% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 531 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 159 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 1,710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $239,075.10. Following the sale, the insider owned 151,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,216,167.50. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 2,206 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $308,420.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 126,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,624,308.79. This represents a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,936 shares of company stock valued at $7,483,846 in the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on NTRA shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Natera from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Natera to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Natera from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $183.76.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRA traded down $4.73 on Thursday, reaching $136.23. The company had a trading volume of 585,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,488,772. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -92.40 and a beta of 1.73. The company's fifty day moving average is $158.12 and its 200-day moving average is $156.45. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.14 and a 1-year high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.59) by $0.09. Natera had a negative return on equity of 18.29% and a negative net margin of 10.36%. The company had revenue of $501.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.56) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current 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.