Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on NTRA. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.56.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $144.50 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. The firm has a market cap of $19.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -82.10 and a beta of 1.80. Natera has a fifty-two week low of $83.13 and a fifty-two week high of $183.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $164.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.28.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Natera will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.29, for a total value of $859,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 143,768 shares in the company, valued at $20,600,516.72. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Fesko sold 669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.60, for a total transaction of $106,772.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,217,063.20. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 294,946 shares of company stock valued at $47,212,702. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natera

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Natera in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 104.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 345.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Natera by 372.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.