Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA – Get Rating) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $74.22.

NTRA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Credit Suisse Group increased their target price on Natera from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. StockNews.com began coverage on Natera in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Natera from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 3rd.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NTRA opened at $53.10 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.53 and a beta of 1.22. Natera has a fifty-two week low of $27.35 and a fifty-two week high of $59.75. The company has a quick ratio of 3.79, a current ratio of 3.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $53.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.99.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported ($1.37) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.40) by $0.03. Natera had a negative return on equity of 106.67% and a negative net margin of 66.79%. The business had revenue of $217.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.48) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Natera will post -4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, insider Daniel Rabinowitz sold 5,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.94, for a total value of $269,072.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 184,699 shares in the company, valued at $9,039,169.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Natera news, insider Daniel Rabinowitz sold 5,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.94, for a total transaction of $269,072.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 184,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,039,169.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 13,474 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.94, for a total transaction of $659,417.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 245,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,037,429.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,618 shares of company stock valued at $5,348,264 in the last three months. 10.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natera

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter worth $111,690,000. Braidwell LP purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,116,000. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 21.2% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 8,781,346 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $384,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534,001 shares in the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Natera by 88.4% during the fourth quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 2,685,959 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $107,895,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260,357 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Natera by 2,280.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,202,382 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $48,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,873 shares in the last quarter. 93.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Natera

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Natera, Inc is a diagnostics company, which engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of genetic testing services. It provides Panorama non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT), Vistara, horizon carrier screening (HCS), spectrum pre-implantation genetic screening and spectrum pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, Anora products of conception (POC) and non-invasive paternity testing (PAT).