Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on the stock from $160.00 to $200.00. The stock had previously closed at $175.00, but opened at $182.39. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Natera shares last traded at $171.01, with a volume of 265,199 shares.

NTRA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Natera from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.00.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 1,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.76, for a total transaction of $206,378.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 194,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,501,707.40. This trade represents a 0.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.07, for a total transaction of $30,737.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,434,752.37. The trade was a 0.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 127,932 shares of company stock worth $20,635,430 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTRA. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 205.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $355,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,481 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 13.6% in the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,460,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $483,034,000 after purchasing an additional 532,874 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 257.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 651,523 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $70,553,000 after purchasing an additional 469,327 shares in the last quarter. PointState Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 112.0% in the third quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 782,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $99,343,000 after purchasing an additional 413,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 53.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $103,783,000 after purchasing an additional 334,630 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $132.29. The company has a market capitalization of $22.43 billion, a PE ratio of -96.52 and a beta of 1.65.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. The company had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. 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.