Brokerages Set Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) PT at $256.60

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $256.60.

NTRA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 482 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.49, for a total transaction of $101,456.18. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,102,333.04. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total value of $693,564.45. Following the transaction, the insider owned 142,295 shares in the company, valued at $28,984,068.55. This trade represents a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 38,266 shares of company stock valued at $7,747,808 over the last three months. Insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its position in Natera by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 244 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in Natera by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Natera by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Natera by 5.5% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp lifted its position in Natera by 5.5% during the first quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 982 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $196,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Natera Stock Performance

Natera stock opened at $186.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -114.33 and a beta of 1.57. Natera has a fifty-two week low of $131.81 and a fifty-two week high of $256.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $200.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.09.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. The company had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.68 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 9.05%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.41) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Natera Company Profile

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.