Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wolfe Research

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) was upgraded by Wolfe Research to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on NTRA. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on shares of Natera from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.81.

Natera Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $213.05 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $202.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $215.84. The company has a market cap of $30.51 billion, a PE ratio of -130.71 and a beta of 1.56. Natera has a 12-month low of $131.81 and a 12-month high of $256.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other news, insider John Fesko sold 1,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.84, for a total value of $291,683.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 185,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,684,020.88. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.84, for a total transaction of $335,091.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 140,643 shares in the company, valued at $28,528,026.12. The trade was a 1.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,406 shares of company stock valued at $6,984,955. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coatue Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 1,446.1% in the 4th quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 2,633,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $603,270,000 after buying an additional 2,463,008 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Natera by 94.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,976,325 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,140,026,000 after acquiring an additional 2,420,263 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter worth about $372,398,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Natera by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,944,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Natera by 37.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,665,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $428,987,000 after acquiring an additional 727,366 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Company Profile

Natera is a global diagnostics company that develops and commercializes cell-free DNA and other genetic testing technologies for clinical applications. The company focuses on three principal areas: reproductive health (including non-invasive prenatal testing and carrier screening), oncology (tumor-informed assays for minimal residual disease and recurrence monitoring), and organ transplantation (cell-free DNA tests to detect allograft injury). Natera combines laboratory testing, proprietary bioinformatics, and clinical reporting to deliver personalized genetic information to clinicians and patients.

Key product offerings include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for fetal chromosomal abnormalities and select single-gene conditions; Horizon carrier screening for inherited conditions; Signatera, a personalized, tumor-informed assay used for detecting minimal residual disease and monitoring treatment response in cancer patients; and Prospera, a donor-derived cell-free DNA test used to assess the risk of organ rejection.