Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $181.82.

Several research firms have recently commented on NTRA. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Natera in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.61, for a total transaction of $606,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,471,223.44. The trade was a 29.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.12, for a total value of $450,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 136,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,447,094.60. The trade was a 2.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 152,436 shares of company stock worth $22,019,079. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the first quarter worth about $14,413,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Natera by 185.8% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 246,482 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,855,000 after acquiring an additional 160,243 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Natera by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 905,676 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $128,072,000 after purchasing an additional 38,180 shares during the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the first quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,393,827 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,752,611,000 after purchasing an additional 77,357 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natera Stock Down 7.1 %

Natera stock opened at $150.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $147.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.39. Natera has a fifty-two week low of $92.14 and a fifty-two week high of $183.00. The company has a market capitalization of $20.41 billion, a PE ratio of -85.79 and a beta of 1.79.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.59) by $0.09. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The firm had revenue of $501.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.68 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.56) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Natera will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

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.