Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Given New $100.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its price objective upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $90.00 to $100.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on NTRA. Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a buy rating and a $117.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Natera from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $120.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Natera from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Natera from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $86.40.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $90.42 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.86 and a beta of 1.37. Natera has a 52 week low of $36.90 and a 52 week high of $98.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $84.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.91. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 3.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.73) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $311.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.38 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 40.16% and a negative return on equity of 62.19%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Natera will post -2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 26,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total transaction of $2,468,949.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 321,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,685,736.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 26,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total transaction of $2,468,949.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 321,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,685,736.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,378 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total transaction of $127,630.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,543,232.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 366,477 shares of company stock valued at $28,552,682. 9.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natera

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Natera by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,267 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Natera by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,216 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of Natera by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 45,469 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,012,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Natera by 0.3% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 83,843 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,710,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of Natera by 1.8% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,506 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

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.