Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NTRA. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Natera from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $120.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Natera from $70.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Natera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Natera from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $86.40.

Natera Stock Up 3.5 %

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $96.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.48. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 3.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.59 and a beta of 1.38. Natera has a twelve month low of $36.90 and a twelve month high of $98.82.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.22, for a total transaction of $40,328.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 347,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,372,290.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 34,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total transaction of $2,383,050.87. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 70,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,947,339.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 447 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.22, for a total transaction of $40,328.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 347,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,372,290.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 420,779 shares of company stock worth $34,667,871. Insiders own 9.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Natera in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Natera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its stake in Natera by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 538 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 109.3% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.