Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages have also commented on NTRA. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Monday, January 12th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $239.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.47.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $208.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -136.21 and a beta of 1.68. Natera has a 52 week low of $131.81 and a 52 week high of $256.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.82.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. The business had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.68 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.41) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.30, for a total value of $606,900.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 147,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,916,528.60. The trade was a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,623 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $1,147,822.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 156,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,968,186.91. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 314,545 shares of company stock worth $73,141,185. 5.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co grew its stake in Natera by 33.3% during the first quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co now owns 1,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Natera by 45.2% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,609 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,721,000 after acquiring an additional 16,691 shares in the last quarter. BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Natera by 5.1% during the first quarter. BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in Natera by 333.7% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 10,296 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after acquiring an additional 7,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mozayyx Management LLC purchased a new position in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $309,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

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.