Morgan Stanley Increases Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target to $185.00

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $185.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on NTRA. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Natera from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.56.

Natera Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of NTRA opened at $147.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -84.05 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. Natera has a fifty-two week low of $83.13 and a fifty-two week high of $183.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $166.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.62.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.01. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The firm had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.91 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $12,958,888.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 267,629 shares in the company, valued at $44,150,756.13. The trade was a 22.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 4,858 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.59, for a total transaction of $809,294.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 114,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,143,190.08. This represents a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 208,299 shares of company stock worth $34,948,265. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 104.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 345.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 372.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.