Csenge Advisory Group Invests $725,000 in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Csenge Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,672 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $725,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in Natera in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in Natera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in Natera during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $325.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.86 billion, a PE ratio of -239.02 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.71 and a fifty-two week high of $326.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $269.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.01.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. Natera had a negative return on equity of 11.38% and a negative net margin of 7.11%.The company had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.74) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Fesko sold 295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.99, for a total value of $79,057.05. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 183,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,249,594.26. The trade was a 0.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,076 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.39, for a total transaction of $819,415.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,897 shares in the company, valued at $26,611,561.83. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 181,045 shares of company stock valued at $41,330,968 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $355.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, August 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $375.00 price target on Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Natera from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.38.

Natera Company Profile

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.