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

Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $153.67.

Several analysts have issued reports on NTRA shares. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Natera from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Leerink Partners raised their price target on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, Director Rowan E. Chapman sold 1,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.24, for a total transaction of $300,814.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,055,828.48. This trade represents a 22.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total transaction of $350,668.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,386 shares in the company, valued at $3,073,262.58. This trade represents a 10.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 127,932 shares of company stock valued at $20,635,430. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 148.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 345.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Natera by 34.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Natera by 32.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 430 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA stock opened at $167.60 on Friday. Natera has a 1-year low of $58.53 and a 1-year high of $175.63. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $155.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.99. The company has a market capitalization of $22.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -95.23 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The business had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.95) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Natera

Natera, Inc, a diagnostics company, develops and commercializes molecular testing services worldwide. Its products include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for chromosomal abnormalities of a fetus, as well as in twin pregnancies; Horizon carrier screening test for individuals and couples determine if they are carriers of genetic variations that cause certain genetic conditions; Vistara single-gene NIPT screens for 25 single-gene disorders that cause severe skeletal, cardiac, and neurological conditions; Spectrum, preimplantation genetic tests for couples undergoing IVF; Anora that analyzes miscarriage tissue from women; Empower, a hereditary cancer screening test; and non-invasive prenatal paternity product, which allows a couple to establish paternity without waiting for the child to be born.