Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Natera has an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 19 firms, with a consensus 1-year price target of $256.60. The breakdown includes 14 buy ratings, three holds, one sell, and one strong buy.
• The stock was up 2.5% and opened at $204.21, while its recent earnings report beat expectations with $0.35 EPS versus an estimated loss and $665.5 million in revenue, above consensus.
• There has been notable insider activity, including CEO Steven Leonard Chapman and insider John Fesko selling shares under pre-arranged trading plans. Despite those sales, institutional investors still own 99.9% of the company’s stock.

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $256.60.

NTRA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on Natera from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday. 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, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st.

Natera Stock Up 2.5%

NTRA stock opened at $204.21 on Wednesday. Natera has a 12-month low of $131.81 and a 12-month high of $256.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $201.46 and a 200-day moving average of $215.26. The firm has a market cap of $29.24 billion, a PE ratio of -125.28 and a beta of 1.57.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.41) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Natera will post -1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,838 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 150,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,777,983.66. This represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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, insider John Fesko sold 1,688 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.10, for a total value of $344,520.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 187,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,270,995.10. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 have sold a total of 38,266 shares of company stock worth $7,747,808 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.63% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Natera by 6.6% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Natera by 68.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,552 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in shares of Natera by 8.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,993 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $847,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the second quarter worth $298,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the second quarter worth $558,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company's stock.

About Natera

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.

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