Mission Wealth Management LP Invests $214,000 in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Mission Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,352 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NTRA. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Natera by 205.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,493,000 after buying an additional 1,883,481 shares during the last quarter. PointState Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Natera by 112.0% during the 3rd quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 782,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $99,343,000 after buying an additional 413,468 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Natera by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,099,335 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $144,958,000 after buying an additional 328,375 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Natera by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 687,703 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $87,304,000 after buying an additional 272,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Natera by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,340,045 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $170,119,000 after buying an additional 269,706 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.77, for a total value of $117,861.51. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 156,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,739,941.88. This trade represents a 0.42 % 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, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 25,931 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $4,277,837.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 109,665 shares in the company, valued at $18,091,435.05. This represents a 19.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 208,299 shares of company stock valued at $34,948,265. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Natera Price Performance

Natera stock opened at $141.50 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $83.13 and a 12-month high of $183.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -80.40 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $166.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NTRA. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.56.

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.