Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target Raised to $435.00

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $290.00 to $435.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

NTRA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Natera from $249.00 to $363.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $315.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.83.

Natera Stock Up 0.9%

NTRA opened at $328.93 on Wednesday. Natera has a 52 week low of $157.43 and a 52 week high of $343.18. The business’s 50 day moving average is $297.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $241.66. The firm has a market cap of $47.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -241.86 and a beta of 1.54.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.24 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 11.38% and a negative net margin of 7.11%.The company’s revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.74) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Natera will post -1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $4,132,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,062,500. This represents a 79.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Fesko sold 6,517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.53, for a total transaction of $2,095,411.01. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 197,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,424,043.21. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 sold a total of 71,206 shares of company stock worth $19,944,069 over the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,962,770,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc purchased a new position in Natera in the second quarter worth $5,117,000. Abbot Financial Management Inc. purchased a new position in Natera in the second quarter worth $1,537,000. Eagle Health Investments LP acquired a new stake in Natera in the second quarter valued at $4,302,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Natera by 3,373.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,253 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,251,000 after acquiring an additional 10,929 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Natera

Natera, Inc is a diagnostics company that develops and commercializes molecular testing services based on cell-free DNA and other genomic technologies. The company focuses on reproductive health, oncology and organ health, providing tests intended to support screening, diagnosis, treatment planning and disease monitoring.

Its reproductive health portfolio includes Panorama, a noninvasive prenatal test that screens for certain chromosomal conditions, and Horizon, a carrier screening test.