Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 5,882 Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 168.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,369 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,882 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Natera were worth $1,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 134.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,742,428 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,067,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,871,862 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Natera by 43.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Natera in the fourth quarter worth $224,040,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Natera in the fourth quarter worth $146,419,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Natera by 7.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 879,463 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA stock traded up $0.43 during trading on Monday, reaching $164.19. The stock had a trading volume of 785,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,407,113. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.14 and a 52 week high of $183.00. The stock's 50 day moving average is $152.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.51. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $22.42 billion, a PE ratio of -93.29 and a beta of 1.74.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The company had revenue of $501.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.56) earnings per share. Natera's revenue was up 36.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.69, for a total value of $590,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,704 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,433,183.76. This trade represents a 29.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,026 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.04, for a total value of $149,837.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 144,782 shares in the company, valued at $21,143,963.28. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,275 shares of company stock valued at $10,075,783 over the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Natera from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Natera in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Natera from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $184.63.

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.