Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Natera from "hold" to "buy", a move reflected in a roughly 6.3% intraday stock uptick.
• Analyst consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $253.47 (1 Strong Buy, 14 Buy, 3 Hold, 1 Sell).
• Natera beat expectations last quarter with EPS $0.35 vs. consensus -$0.46 and revenue $665.5M vs. $600.7M, though the company still shows a negative net margin and return on equity.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on NTRA. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, January 12th. William Blair assumed coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Natera in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $253.47.

Natera Trading Up 6.3%

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $208.40 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $203.35 and a 200-day moving average of $211.47. Natera has a 12 month low of $131.81 and a 12 month high of $256.36. The company has a market cap of $29.54 billion, a PE ratio of -136.21 and a beta of 1.68.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative return on equity of 15.28% and a negative net margin of 9.03%.The business had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.68 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.41) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 37,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.54, for a total transaction of $9,016,424.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 64,123 shares in the company, valued at $15,552,392.42. This trade represents a 36.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 23,205 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.74, for a total value of $5,447,141.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 144,992 shares in the company, valued at $34,035,422.08. The trade was a 13.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 314,545 shares of company stock worth $73,141,185 over the last quarter. 5.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTRA. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Natera by 6.6% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Natera by 68.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,552 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Natera by 8.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,993 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera in the second quarter worth $298,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of Natera in the second quarter worth $558,000. 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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