Analysts Set Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Target Price at $140.59

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.59.

A number of research firms have commented on NTRA. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Leerink Partners increased their price target on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Natera from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

Natera Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Natera stock opened at $171.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23. Natera has a 1-year low of $55.56 and a 1-year high of $175.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $140.16 and a 200-day moving average of $122.43. The company has a market capitalization of $22.66 billion, a PE ratio of -97.53 and a beta of 1.63.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.95) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Roelof Botha sold 87,473 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.12, for a total transaction of $14,793,433.76. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,224,787 shares in the company, valued at $207,135,977.44. The trade was a 6.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.21, for a total transaction of $141,379.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 110,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,085,255.95. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,976 shares of company stock worth $21,119,238. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 205.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 13.6% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,460,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $483,034,000 after purchasing an additional 532,874 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Natera by 257.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 651,523 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $70,553,000 after purchasing an additional 469,327 shares during the period. PointState Capital LP increased its stake in Natera by 112.0% in the 3rd quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 782,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $99,343,000 after purchasing an additional 413,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Natera by 53.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $103,783,000 after purchasing an additional 334,630 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natera Company Profile

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.