Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on NTRA. Wall Street Zen cut Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $348.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $355.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.38.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $310.78 on Wednesday. Natera has a one year low of $152.62 and a one year high of $326.03. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $261.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.82. The stock has a market cap of $44.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -228.51 and a beta of 1.51.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.74) earnings per share. Natera’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Natera will post -1.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $4,132,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,062,500. The trade was a 79.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,410 shares of the 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 owned 129,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,264,866.02. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 sold a total of 181,045 shares of company stock valued at $41,330,968 over the last three months. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natera

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Natera by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,944,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,420 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the second quarter valued at $2,962,770,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Natera by 94.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,976,325 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,140,026,000 after acquiring an additional 2,420,263 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $545,624,000 after acquiring an additional 72,087 shares during the period. Finally, Coatue Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 1,446.1% in the 4th quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 2,633,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $603,270,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463,008 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.