Natera’s (NTRA) Buy Rating Reiterated at Canaccord Genuity Group

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $250.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 3.66% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Natera from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $268.00 price objective on Natera and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.29.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRA traded down $3.38 on Monday, hitting $241.17. 508,540 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,438,447. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $199.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.97. Natera has a 52-week low of $125.38 and a 52-week high of $246.90. The company has a market capitalization of $33.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -105.16 and a beta of 1.63.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 160,703 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.96, for a total transaction of $32,134,171.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 144,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,957,407.36. The trade was a 52.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.99, for a total value of $479,970.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 117,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,808,264.41. This represents a 2.49% 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 over the last 90 days. 5.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in Natera during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Natera during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new position in Natera during the second quarter worth $36,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 95.7% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 225 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 83.5% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.