Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Now Covered by Evercore ISI

Key Points

• Evercore ISI has initiated coverage on Natera, setting an "outperform" rating with a price target of $170.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.39% from the stock's previous close.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Natera, with UBS raising its target to $218.00 and Barclays increasing it to $190.00, while Wall Street Zen downgraded it to a "sell."
• Natera reported earnings of ($0.50) per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and its revenue rose by 36.5% compared to the previous year.

Analysts at Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set an "outperform" rating and a $170.00 price target on the medical research company's stock. Evercore ISI's price target would suggest a potential upside of 22.39% from the stock's previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Natera from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $183.76.

Natera Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $138.90 on Monday. Natera has a twelve month low of $92.14 and a twelve month high of $183.00. The firm has a market cap of $18.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -94.49 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $158.80 and a 200-day moving average of $156.85.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.59) by $0.09. Natera had a negative net margin of 10.36% and a negative return on equity of 18.29%. The firm had revenue of $501.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $446.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.56) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 6,980 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.10, for a total value of $1,047,698.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 185,182 shares in the company, valued at $27,795,818.20. This represents a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,299 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total transaction of $719,480.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,358,628.48. This trade represents a 34.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,844 shares of company stock worth $7,488,466 over the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natera

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Natera by 134.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,742,428 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,067,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,871,862 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the fourth quarter worth $224,040,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the first quarter worth $113,375,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Natera by 140.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,253,790 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $177,298,000 after purchasing an additional 732,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Natera by 9.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,361,963 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,041,055,000 after acquiring an additional 660,538 shares in 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.

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