Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target Raised to $190.00

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its price objective raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $160.00 to $190.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on NTRA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.88.

Natera Price Performance

NTRA opened at $176.27 on Tuesday. Natera has a 1 year low of $64.74 and a 1 year high of $183.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23. The company has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -100.15 and a beta of 1.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $166.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.70.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Natera will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, Director Roelof Botha sold 87,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.12, for a total value of $14,793,433.76. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,224,787 shares in the company, valued at $207,135,977.44. This represents a 6.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.41, for a total transaction of $692,226.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 185,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,090,827.94. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 243,122 shares of company stock worth $40,336,290. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTRA. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Natera by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Natera by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,963 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Natera by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Natera by 104.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

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.