Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,636 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 893 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $1,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NTRA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Natera by 35.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 264,801 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,680,000 after acquiring an additional 69,523 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Natera by 58.3% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 72,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,068,000 after purchasing an additional 26,615 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 24.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 36,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,926,000 after purchasing an additional 7,132 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Natera in the second quarter worth about $317,000. Finally, Creative Planning increased its stake in Natera by 28.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,929 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 24,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $4,101,319.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 140,684 shares in the company, valued at $23,208,639.48. This trade represents a 15.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 946 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.98, for a total value of $162,693.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 109,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,827,338.52. The trade was a 0.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 243,546 shares of company stock worth $40,338,829 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $165.26 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -93.90 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.96 and a 12-month high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The company had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.95) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on NTRA. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com cut Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Craig Hallum increased their price target on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.94.

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.