Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 2,608 Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,608 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $449,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Natera by 44.3% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,625,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,795,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,263,822 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter worth $277,749,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Natera by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,750 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $291,717,000 after purchasing an additional 532,769 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in Natera by 149.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 562,985 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $95,111,000 after purchasing an additional 336,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 20.6% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,937,647 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,346,000 after buying an additional 330,696 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natera Price Performance

NTRA opened at $228.92 on Tuesday. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.38 and a fifty-two week high of $256.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -99.69 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $231.37 and its 200 day moving average is $189.35.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by ($0.25). Natera had a negative return on equity of 25.07% and a negative net margin of 14.61%.The firm had revenue of $592.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.26) EPS. Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 48,419 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.42, for a total value of $11,011,448.98. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,626,177.64. This represents a 70.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Roelof Botha sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.12, for a total value of $17,709,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,154,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $272,529,231.76. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 340,444 shares of company stock worth $73,032,985. Company insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NTRA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $241.18.

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.