Narwhal Capital Management Has $1.41 Million Holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Narwhal Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 53.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,993 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,494 shares during the period. Narwhal Capital Management's holdings in Natera were worth $1,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NTRA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in 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 worth $1,067,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,871,862 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Natera by 43.7% during the 4th 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth $224,040,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth $146,419,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,949,697,000 after purchasing an additional 879,463 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 9,563 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.41, for a total transaction of $1,323,614.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,417,799.81. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.44, for a total value of $657,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,704 shares in the company, valued at $937,965.76. This represents a 41.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 59,755 shares of company stock worth $8,898,589. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on NTRA shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Natera in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted 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. Wall Street Zen cut Natera from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 17th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $184.63.

Natera Trading Down 0.1%

NTRA traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $167.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,082,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,421,896. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a PE ratio of -114.26 and a beta of 1.74. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.14 and a fifty-two week high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $446.68 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.56) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Natera

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.