Poinciana Advisors Group LLC Invests $279,000 in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Poinciana Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,763 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NTRA. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Natera by 205.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter worth about $146,419,000. PointState Capital LP grew its position in shares of Natera by 112.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Natera by 42.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its stake in Natera by 25.2% during the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,340,045 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $170,119,000 after purchasing an additional 269,706 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natera Trading Up 4.0 %

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $148.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -84.22 and a beta of 1.80. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.21. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $83.13 and a 12-month high of $183.00.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays assumed coverage on Natera in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $12,958,888.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 267,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,150,756.13. This represents a 22.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.77, for a total value of $117,861.51. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 156,044 shares in the company, valued at $27,739,941.88. This represents a 0.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 298,946 shares of company stock valued at $47,803,462. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Natera 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.