Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 4,610 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 32.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,720 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,610 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $4,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Investments LLC bought a new stake in Natera during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Natera by 95.7% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 225 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in Natera during the third quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Natera by 23.1% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NTRA shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Natera from $239.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Citigroup started coverage on Natera in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. William Blair started coverage on Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.47.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $208.40 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $212.18. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.81 and a twelve month high of $256.36. The company has a market capitalization of $29.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -136.21 and a beta of 1.68.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative return on equity of 15.28% and a negative net margin of 9.03%.The business had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.68 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.41) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 37,175 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.54, for a total value of $9,016,424.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 64,123 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,552,392.42. The trade was a 36.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 23,205 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.74, for a total value of $5,447,141.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 144,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,035,422.08. This represents a 13.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 314,545 shares of company stock worth $73,141,185 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

About Natera

Natera is a global diagnostics company that develops and commercializes cell-free DNA and other genetic testing technologies for clinical applications. The company focuses on three principal areas: reproductive health (including non-invasive prenatal testing and carrier screening), oncology (tumor-informed assays for minimal residual disease and recurrence monitoring), and organ transplantation (cell-free DNA tests to detect allograft injury). Natera combines laboratory testing, proprietary bioinformatics, and clinical reporting to deliver personalized genetic information to clinicians and patients.

Key product offerings include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for fetal chromosomal abnormalities and select single-gene conditions; Horizon carrier screening for inherited conditions; Signatera, a personalized, tumor-informed assay used for detecting minimal residual disease and monitoring treatment response in cancer patients; and Prospera, a donor-derived cell-free DNA test used to assess the risk of organ rejection.