Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Shares Gap Up to $40.00

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA – Get Rating) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $40.00, but opened at $42.32. Natera shares last traded at $43.29, with a volume of 13,673 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on NTRA. BTIG Research decreased their price target on shares of Natera from $95.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Natera to $67.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 16th. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price target on shares of Natera from $70.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 14th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Natera from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.67.

Natera Trading Down 3.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of -6.99 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.95, a current ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 8th. The medical research company reported ($1.25) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.42) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $210.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.31 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 70.34% and a negative return on equity of 109.07%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -5.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Natera

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.41, for a total transaction of $38,381.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,109,755.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 905 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Monday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.41, for a total value of $38,381.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,109,755.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 2,488 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Monday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.41, for a total transaction of $105,516.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,788,315.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,716 shares of company stock valued at $1,590,467. Corporate insiders own 10.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Natera by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 8,781,346 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $384,799,000 after buying an additional 1,534,001 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Natera by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,312,584 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $364,258,000 after buying an additional 371,740 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Natera by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,472,779 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $193,955,000 after buying an additional 466,500 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,409,372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $120,828,000 after acquiring an additional 577,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 2,277,136 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $99,784,000 after acquiring an additional 655,121 shares during the last quarter. 93.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Natera

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Natera, Inc, a diagnostics company, develops and commercializes molecular testing services worldwide. It offers Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for chromosomal abnormalities of a fetus with a blood draw from the mother, as well as twin pregnancies for zygosity; Vistara, a single-gene mutations screening test to identify single-gene disorder; Horizon carrier screening to determine carrier status for various genetic diseases; and Spectrum to identify chromosomal anomalies or inherited genetic conditions during an in vitro fertilization cycle.