Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its price target on Natera from $215 to $220 and kept an "equal weight" rating, implying about an 8.98% upside, while the consensus analyst price target is higher at $253.80 with an average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Shares traded down 8.2% to $201.87 after Natera reported Q1 EPS of ($0.60), missing estimates, though revenue beat at $696.6M (up 38.8% YoY); the company remains unprofitable with a negative net margin and ROE.
• Insiders have sold 38,266 shares (~$7.75M) in the last 90 days under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans to cover tax obligations, and institutional/hedge fund ownership is extremely high at about 99.9%.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the medical research company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target indicates a potential upside of 8.98% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on NTRA. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Natera from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $239.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $253.80.

Natera Trading Down 8.2%

Shares of NTRA stock traded down $17.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $201.87. The stock had a trading volume of 708,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,242,730. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $202.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.02. Natera has a 52-week low of $131.81 and a 52-week high of $256.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.73 billion, a PE ratio of -131.70 and a beta of 1.57.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $696.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $617.10 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.50) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, insider John Fesko sold 1,688 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.10, for a total value of $344,520.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 187,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,270,995.10. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total transaction of $693,564.45. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 142,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,984,068.55. The trade was a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold a total of 38,266 shares of company stock valued at $7,747,808 over the last ninety days. 5.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 16.3% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,503 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 193.4% during the first quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 82,737 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $16,547,000 after purchasing an additional 54,537 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 8.2% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,270 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 5.5% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Natera by 5.8% during the first quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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