Brokerages Set Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target at $225.29

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $229.1176.

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Natera from $218.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Stephens lifted their target price on Natera from $197.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Natera to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, Director Roelof Botha sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.12, for a total value of $17,709,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,154,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $272,529,231.76. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Roy D. Baynes sold 7,668 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.08, for a total transaction of $1,710,577.44. Following the sale, the director owned 18,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,525.72. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 365,164 shares of company stock worth $76,621,909 over the last ninety days. 5.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natera

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Natera by 83.5% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 233 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new position in Natera in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Natera during the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $227.40 on Friday. Natera has a one year low of $125.38 and a one year high of $246.90. The company has a market capitalization of $31.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -99.30 and a beta of 1.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.74.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $592.18 million for 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%. Natera’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.26) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Natera will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.