Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Natera, with 15 buy, two strong-buy, four hold, and one sell rating among 22 analysts. The average 12-month price target is $319.38.
• Natera reported quarterly revenue of $752.75 million, up 37.7% year over year and above estimates, while adjusted EPS of ($0.47) slightly beat expectations of ($0.49).
• Natera shares opened at $324.84, near their 12-month high of $333.56. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company, while insiders sold approximately $41.3 million of stock over the past 90 days through pre-arranged plans.

Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-two analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $319.3750.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on NTRA shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Natera from $220.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on Natera from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Natera from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In related news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 478 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.22, for a total value of $131,077.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 51,637 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,159,898.14. The trade was a 0.92% decrease in their position. 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, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,076 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.39, for a total transaction of $819,415.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 99,897 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,611,561.83. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 181,045 shares of company stock valued at $41,330,968. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natera

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Natera in the second quarter worth about $2,962,770,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,117,000. Abbot Financial Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,537,000. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Natera by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 438,857 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $100,538,000 after buying an additional 71,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Natera by 3,373.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,253 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,251,000 after buying an additional 10,929 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Natera Stock Performance

Natera stock opened at $324.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.82 billion, a PE ratio of -238.85 and a beta of 1.51. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $271.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.67. Natera has a twelve month low of $157.43 and a twelve month high of $333.56.

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

Natera Company Profile

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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