Citigroup Raises Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target to $365.00

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Citigroup from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 17.52% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NTRA. Leerink Partners set a $330.00 price objective on Natera in a research note on Friday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, June 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.38.

Natera Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA traded down $5.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $310.59. The company had a trading volume of 1,060,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,362,841. The company has a market capitalization of $44.77 billion, a PE ratio of -227.79 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $260.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.33. Natera has a one year low of $152.62 and a one year high of $326.03.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. Natera had a negative return on equity of 11.82% and a negative net margin of 7.11%.The business had revenue of $752.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.74) earnings per share. Natera’s revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Natera will post -1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.21, for a total value of $2,389,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,343,009.43. The trade was a 64.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,410 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.58, for a total transaction of $905,627.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 129,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,264,866.02. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 181,045 shares of company stock valued at $41,330,968 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Natera

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Natera by 68.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Natera by 8.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $847,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Natera in the second quarter valued at about $298,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Natera in the second quarter valued at about $558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

About Natera

Natera is a global diagnostics company that develops and commercializes cell-free DNA and other genetic testing technologies for clinical applications. The company focuses on three principal areas: reproductive health (including non-invasive prenatal testing and carrier screening), oncology (tumor-informed assays for minimal residual disease and recurrence monitoring), and organ transplantation (cell-free DNA tests to detect allograft injury). Natera combines laboratory testing, proprietary bioinformatics, and clinical reporting to deliver personalized genetic information to clinicians and patients.

Key product offerings include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for fetal chromosomal abnormalities and select single-gene conditions; Horizon carrier screening for inherited conditions; Signatera, a personalized, tumor-informed assay used for detecting minimal residual disease and monitoring treatment response in cancer patients; and Prospera, a donor-derived cell-free DNA test used to assess the risk of organ rejection.