Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Earns “Buy” Rating from Canaccord Genuity Group

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by investment analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $180.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 14.94% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on NTRA. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays initiated coverage on Natera in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Craig Hallum upped their price objective on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.94.

Natera Stock Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $156.61 on Wednesday. Natera has a 1 year low of $75.18 and a 1 year high of $183.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $167.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.60. The stock has a market cap of $20.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -88.98 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Roelof Botha sold 87,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.12, for a total value of $14,793,433.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,224,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,135,977.44. This trade represents a 6.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $12,958,888.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 267,629 shares in the company, valued at $44,150,756.13. The trade was a 22.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 295,772 shares of company stock valued at $49,741,699. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 134.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,742,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,067,327,000 after buying an additional 3,871,862 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Natera by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,060,836,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036,396 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Natera by 205.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883,481 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter worth approximately $224,040,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,419,000. 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.