Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on NTRA. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Natera from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Natera from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.12.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $149.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -85.02 and a beta of 1.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $161.71 and its 200 day moving average is $149.27. Natera has a 1 year low of $83.13 and a 1 year high of $183.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Fesko sold 669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.60, for a total transaction of $106,772.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 114,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,217,063.20. This trade represents a 0.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.04, for a total value of $149,837.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 144,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,143,963.28. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 307,466 shares of company stock worth $49,047,655 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Natera by 15.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,227 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 3.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Natera by 26.3% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 31,051 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,942,000 after acquiring an additional 6,467 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Natera by 1.2% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 143,903 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $18,269,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Natera by 0.9% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 227,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,932,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 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.