Brokerages Set Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Target Price at $86.40

Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.40.

Several research firms recently commented on NTRA. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Natera from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on Natera in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $117.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Natera from $70.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 6,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.13, for a total transaction of $634,774.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,206,632.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 6,816 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.13, for a total transaction of $634,774.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 227,710 shares in the company, valued at $21,206,632.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.22, for a total value of $40,328.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 347,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,372,290.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 455,349 shares of company stock valued at $36,747,623. 9.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the fourth quarter valued at $83,970,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Natera by 115.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,654,303 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $73,203,000 after buying an additional 887,409 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Natera by 52.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,529,496 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $111,930,000 after acquiring an additional 865,404 shares during the period. Perceptive Advisors LLC lifted its position in Natera by 289.7% during the fourth quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 850,225 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $53,258,000 after acquiring an additional 632,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,971,895 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $687,280,000 after acquiring an additional 588,147 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $91.66 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 3.96. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.50. Natera has a fifty-two week low of $36.90 and a fifty-two week high of $98.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.20 billion, a PE ratio of -24.18 and a beta of 1.37.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.73) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $311.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.38 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 40.16% and a negative return on equity of 62.19%. Sell-side analysts expect that Natera will post -2.35 earnings per share 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.