Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Receives $253.47 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $253.4667.

A number of research firms recently commented on NTRA. BTIG Research increased their target price on Natera from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Natera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd.

Natera Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $196.15 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $211.98 and a 200-day moving average of $208.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -128.20 and a beta of 1.65. Natera has a 12 month low of $125.38 and a 12 month high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. The business had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.68 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.41) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Natera will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 37,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.54, for a total value of $9,016,424.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 64,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,552,392.42. The trade was a 36.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 85,299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.72, for a total transaction of $19,680,185.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 127,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,504,704.32. This represents a 40.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 318,344 shares of company stock valued at $74,091,416 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in Natera by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Natera by 68.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of Natera by 8.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $847,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at $298,000. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in Natera by 29.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,146 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after buying an additional 2,521 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.