Brokerages Set Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target at $256.60

Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $256.60.

Several analysts recently issued reports on NTRA shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. BTIG Research dropped their target price on Natera from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $186.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -114.33 and a beta of 1.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $200.83 and its 200-day moving average is $215.25. Natera has a one year low of $131.81 and a one year high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 9.05%.The company had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.41) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In related news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 3,070 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.74, for a total transaction of $594,781.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 58,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,293,298.34. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.14, for a total value of $1,191,769.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 150,769 shares in the company, valued at $30,777,983.66. This represents a 3.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders sold a total of 38,266 shares of company stock worth $7,747,808 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Coatue Management LLC grew its position in Natera by 1,446.1% during the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 2,633,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $603,270,000 after buying an additional 2,463,008 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position 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 buying an additional 2,420,263 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter worth approximately $372,398,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 worth $2,944,800,000 after buying an additional 1,225,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew 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 worth $428,987,000 after buying an additional 727,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.