Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) to a moderate buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on NTRA. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Natera from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.12.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA opened at $148.22 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $164.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.21. Natera has a 1 year low of $83.13 and a 1 year high of $183.00. The company has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -84.22 and a beta of 1.80. 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 (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. Equities analysts expect that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $12,958,888.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 267,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,150,756.13. The trade was a 22.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.77, for a total transaction of $117,861.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 156,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,739,941.88. The trade was a 0.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 298,946 shares of company stock worth $47,803,462 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Natera by 104.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Natera by 345.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 372.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Natera by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.