Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other analysts have also commented on NTRA. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Natera from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Natera from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $182.12.

Natera Price Performance

NTRA stock traded up $1.39 on Friday, hitting $152.48. 1,027,618 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,388,768. Natera has a 1-year low of $92.14 and a 1-year high of $183.00. The stock has a market cap of $20.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -86.64 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $149.25 and a 200-day moving average of $157.31. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.59) by $0.09. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The business had revenue of $501.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $446.68 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.56) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 36.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.29, for a total value of $859,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 143,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,600,516.72. This trade represents a 4.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 87,272 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.40, for a total transaction of $12,514,804.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 203,354 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,160,963.60. The trade was a 30.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 152,436 shares of company stock valued at $22,019,079 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Natera by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Natera by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,629 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in shares of Natera by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,652 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. grew its position in shares of Natera by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,914 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Natera by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,417 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $766,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Natera Company Profile

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.