Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock Has Average Target Price of $353.45 According to Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus on Natera, with 16 buy, two strong-buy, four hold and one sell ratings. The average 12-month price target is $353.45, below the reported opening price of $400.71.
• Natera reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with an EPS loss of $0.47 versus the $0.49 estimate and revenue of $752.75 million, up 37.7% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 99.90% of Natera’s shares, while insiders sold $16.1 million of stock over the past three months through transactions made under pre-arranged plans to cover tax obligations.

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-three research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation, sixteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $353.45.

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $385.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $310.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Natera from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, July 6th.

Natera Stock Up 2.5%

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $400.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -294.64 and a beta of 1.50. Natera has a twelve month low of $167.99 and a twelve month high of $437.41. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $346.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $268.15.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.49) by $0.02. Natera had a negative return on equity of 11.38% and a negative net margin of 7.11%. The company had revenue of $752.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $661.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.74) EPS. The business's revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Natera will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael Brophy sold 2,419 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.96, for a total transaction of $614,329.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,788,758.20. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 Chapman sold 3,580 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.07, for a total value of $909,570.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,973 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,162,350.11. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 52,985 shares of company stock worth $16,119,137 in the last three months. 5.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the second quarter valued at about $2,962,770,000. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Natera by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,167,869 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $496,637,000 after acquiring an additional 420,621 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in Natera by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,219,045 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $279,271,000 after acquiring an additional 110,715 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Natera by 1.0% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,191,732 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $238,334,000 after acquiring an additional 11,793 shares during the period. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its stake in Natera by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,171,633 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $234,315,000 after purchasing an additional 227,605 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company's stock.

About Natera

Natera, Inc is a diagnostics company that develops and commercializes molecular testing services designed to assess genetic and disease-related risks. The company uses technologies including cell-free DNA analysis and next-generation sequencing to support clinical decision-making in reproductive health, oncology and organ transplantation.

Its reproductive health offerings include Panorama, a noninvasive prenatal test that screens for certain chromosomal conditions, and Horizon, a carrier screening test that evaluates whether prospective parents carry genetic variants associated with inherited disorders.

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