Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Given Buy Rating at Canaccord Genuity Group

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by Canaccord Genuity Group in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $180.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 14.94% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on NTRA. Barclays started coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.94.

Natera Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $156.61 on Wednesday. Natera has a fifty-two week low of $75.18 and a fifty-two week high of $183.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $167.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. The company has a market cap of $20.68 billion, a PE ratio of -88.98 and a beta of 1.66.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, Director Roelof Botha sold 87,473 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.12, for a total transaction of $14,793,433.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,224,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,135,977.44. This trade represents a 6.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.77, for a total value of $117,861.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 156,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,739,941.88. This trade represents a 0.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 295,772 shares of company stock worth $49,741,699. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,949,697,000 after buying an additional 879,463 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Natera by 134.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,742,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,067,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,871,862 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Natera by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,060,836,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036,396 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Natera by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,240,041 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $512,898,000 after purchasing an additional 439,778 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Natera by 3.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,482,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $315,194,000 after purchasing an additional 85,236 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.