Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target Raised to $260.00

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its target price raised by BTIG Research from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Natera from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $172.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Natera from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on Natera from $218.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.29.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA stock traded up $0.34 on Friday, hitting $244.89. The company had a trading volume of 79,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,436,521. Natera has a twelve month low of $125.38 and a twelve month high of $246.90. The firm has a market cap of $33.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -106.40 and a beta of 1.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $199.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.97.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $592.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.55 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.61% and a negative return on equity of 25.07%. The business’s revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.26) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, Director Roy D. Baynes sold 7,668 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.08, for a total transaction of $1,710,577.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,525.72. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 160,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.96, for a total value of $32,134,171.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 144,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,957,407.36. This represents a 52.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 307,687 shares of company stock valued at $63,466,360 in the last three months. 5.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTRA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Natera by 56.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,537,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,490,144,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795,315 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Natera by 44.3% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,625,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,795,125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,263,822 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Natera in the second quarter worth $277,749,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the 1st quarter valued at $113,375,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Natera by 140.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,253,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $177,298,000 after acquiring an additional 732,156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

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.