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

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $241.1765.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane raised Natera from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $172.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group upped their price target on Natera from $218.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Stephens increased their price target on Natera from $197.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Natera from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 2,951 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.95, for a total transaction of $675,631.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 123,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,275,096.05. The trade was a 2.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Herm Rosenman sold 48,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.42, for a total transaction of $11,011,448.98. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,626,177.64. The trade was a 70.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 343,280 shares of company stock worth $73,566,011. 5.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Natera in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $412,000. Northwest Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $365,000. LVW Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 1,483 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Legal Advantage Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the 4th quarter valued at $458,000. Finally, Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC raised its stake in Natera by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $239.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.08 billion, a PE ratio of -104.45 and a beta of 1.62. Natera has a 1 year low of $125.38 and a 1 year high of $256.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $229.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.67.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $592.18 million for 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 quarterly revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.26) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Natera will post -1.49 EPS 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.