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

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on NTRA. Raymond James lowered Natera from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Natera from $70.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Natera from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Craig Hallum started coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $117.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.40.

Natera Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $92.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a PE ratio of -24.51 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.56. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 3.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Natera has a 12 month low of $36.90 and a 12 month high of $98.82.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.73) by $0.09. Natera had a negative return on equity of 62.19% and a negative net margin of 40.16%. The company had revenue of $311.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.38 million. Research analysts forecast that Natera will post -2.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.55, for a total value of $63,132.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 71,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,601.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 705 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.55, for a total value of $63,132.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 71,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,601.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $420,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,270,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 434,943 shares of company stock valued at $35,419,396. 9.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. RiverPark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Natera in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Natera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Natera in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Natera in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 109.3% during the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 745 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in 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.