Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target Raised to $240.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its price objective lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $210.00 to $240.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on NTRA. Zacks Research cut shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Natera from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Natera from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.74.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $199.57. The company had a trading volume of 2,707,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,247,989. The company has a market capitalization of $27.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -87.15 and a beta of 1.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.67. Natera has a 1-year low of $125.38 and a 1-year high of $203.23.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $592.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $514.55 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.61% and a negative return on equity of 25.20%. The company’s revenue was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.26) EPS. Natera has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.99, for a total value of $479,970.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 117,559 shares in the company, valued at $18,808,264.41. The trade was a 2.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rowan E. Chapman sold 2,750 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.99, for a total value of $459,222.50. Following the sale, the director owned 6,015 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,444.85. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 224,889 shares of company stock valued at $43,232,062 over the last quarter. 5.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Natera by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,676,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,141,594,000 after purchasing an additional 282,826 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Natera by 9.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,628,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,871,914,000 after buying an additional 1,003,129 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Natera by 56.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,537,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,490,144,000 after buying an additional 3,795,315 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Natera by 7.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,552,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $430,640,000 after buying an additional 166,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Natera by 13.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,035,979 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,908,000 after buying an additional 245,719 shares in the last quarter. 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.