Stephens Issues Positive Forecast for Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock Price

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its price target raised by Stephens from $197.00 to $235.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

NTRA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $268.00 price objective on shares of Natera and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Natera from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Natera from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.65.

Natera Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Natera stock traded up $3.61 on Thursday, reaching $204.28. The stock had a trading volume of 1,289,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,392,732. The business’s 50 day moving average is $181.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.57. Natera has a 1 year low of $125.38 and a 1 year high of $212.21. The company has a market cap of $28.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -89.21 and a beta of 1.75.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.55 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 25.07% and a negative net margin of 14.61%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.26) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 160,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.96, for a total transaction of $32,134,171.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 144,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,957,407.36. This represents a 52.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 2,491 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.05, for a total value of $403,666.55. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,212,077.45. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 223,336 shares of company stock valued at $42,990,633. Corporate insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Natera

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 2.3% during 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,628,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,871,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,129 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position 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 worth $1,490,144,000 after acquiring an additional 3,795,315 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 37.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,665,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $428,987,000 after acquiring an additional 727,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 7.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,552,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $430,640,000 after buying an additional 166,768 shares during 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.