Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Sanford C. Bernstein

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) was upgraded by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group set a $260.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $259.22.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA opened at $261.91 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $37.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -160.68 and a beta of 1.56. Natera has a twelve month low of $131.81 and a twelve month high of $271.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $212.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.21, for a total transaction of $2,389,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,343,009.43. This represents a 64.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rowan E. Chapman sold 2,964 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.78, for a total transaction of $642,535.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $677,220.72. This trade represents a 48.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 178,872 shares of company stock valued at $39,415,896 over the last 90 days. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natera

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Natera by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,944,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,420 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Natera by 94.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,976,325 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,140,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,420,263 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,624,000 after buying an additional 72,087 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,665,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $428,987,000 after buying an additional 727,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coatue Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Natera by 1,446.1% in the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 2,633,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $603,270,000 after buying an additional 2,463,008 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

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.