Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Upgraded by Citigroup to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) was upgraded by analysts at Citigroup to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on NTRA. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. BNP Paribas raised Natera to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $241.18.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA stock opened at $234.31 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.09. Natera has a 52 week low of $125.38 and a 52 week high of $256.36. The company has a market capitalization of $32.41 billion, a PE ratio of -102.32 and a beta of 1.62.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $514.55 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 25.07% and a negative net margin of 14.61%.Natera’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.26) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Roy D. Baynes sold 7,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.08, for a total value of $1,710,577.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,525.72. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 160,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.96, for a total value of $32,134,171.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 144,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,957,407.36. The trade was a 52.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 343,280 shares of company stock worth $73,566,011. 5.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,676,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,141,594,000 after purchasing an additional 282,826 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Natera by 9.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,628,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,871,914,000 after buying an additional 1,003,129 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Natera by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $545,624,000 after buying an additional 72,087 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Natera by 37.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,665,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $428,987,000 after buying an additional 727,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 7.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,552,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $430,640,000 after buying an additional 166,768 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natera Company Profile

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.