Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on NTRA. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, September 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.69.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $130.39 on Wednesday. Natera has a 12 month low of $40.61 and a 12 month high of $133.54. The stock has a market cap of $16.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -53.22 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s 50 day moving average is $124.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.28. The company has a current ratio of 4.14, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.69) by $0.39. Natera had a negative net margin of 21.47% and a negative return on equity of 36.74%. The company had revenue of $413.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $343.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.97) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 58.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Natera will post -1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 12,000 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.01, for a total transaction of $1,452,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 287,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,783,235.41. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,196 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.21, for a total value of $141,379.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 110,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,085,255.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.01, for a total transaction of $1,452,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 287,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,783,235.41. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,164 shares of company stock valued at $6,157,291 over the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 1,073.1% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 65,730 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,118,000 after purchasing an additional 60,127 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 15.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 74,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,810,000 after purchasing an additional 9,781 shares during the last quarter. Natixis bought a new position in shares of Natera in the first quarter worth about $758,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft bought a new position in shares of Natera in the second quarter worth about $478,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera in the first quarter worth about $707,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.