Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Receives $140.59 Average PT from Analysts

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $140.59.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Craig Hallum upped their price target on shares of Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other Natera news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total transaction of $350,668.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,073,262.58. This represents a 10.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roelof Botha sold 87,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.12, for a total transaction of $14,793,433.76. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,224,787 shares in the company, valued at $207,135,977.44. This trade represents a 6.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 133,976 shares of company stock valued at $21,119,238. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Natera by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,099,335 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $144,958,000 after purchasing an additional 328,375 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at about $385,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Natera by 113.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,486 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $950,000 after acquiring an additional 3,973 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at about $305,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Natera by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,090,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $265,747,000 after acquiring an additional 143,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NTRA opened at $166.45 on Wednesday. Natera has a one year low of $55.56 and a one year high of $175.63. The company has a market cap of $21.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -94.57 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.46.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The business had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.