Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $229.1176.

Several research firms have recently commented on NTRA. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Natera from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Natera from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. BNP Paribas upgraded Natera to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Natera from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $172.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, December 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 4,692 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.76, for a total value of $1,082,725.92. Following the transaction, the insider owned 113,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,090,879.40. The trade was a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Herm Rosenman sold 48,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.42, for a total transaction of $11,011,448.98. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,626,177.64. This trade represents a 70.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 365,164 shares of company stock worth $76,621,909. 5.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NTRA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Natera by 56.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,537,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,490,144,000 after buying an additional 3,795,315 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Natera by 44.3% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,625,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,795,125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,263,822 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Natera in the second quarter valued at $277,749,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Natera by 140.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,253,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $177,298,000 after purchasing an additional 732,156 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Natera by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,665,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $428,987,000 after purchasing an additional 727,366 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $231.96 on Friday. Natera has a 52-week low of $125.38 and a 52-week high of $246.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -101.29 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $212.40 and a 200-day moving average of $179.02.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $592.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $514.55 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 25.07% and a negative net margin of 14.61%.Natera’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.26) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Natera

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.