Brokerages Set Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target at $178.12

Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $178.12.

Several analysts recently issued reports on NTRA shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTRA traded up $5.71 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $148.22. 1,653,873 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,342,627. The company has a market cap of $20.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -84.22 and a beta of 1.80. Natera has a 1 year low of $83.13 and a 1 year high of $183.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $163.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.83. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.01. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The company had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $447.91 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $12,958,888.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 267,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,150,756.13. The trade was a 22.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.69, for a total value of $590,760.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at $1,433,183.76. This trade represents a 29.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 298,946 shares of company stock valued at $47,803,462. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Natera by 134.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,742,428 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,067,327,000 after buying an additional 3,871,862 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,060,836,000 after buying an additional 2,036,396 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Natera by 205.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $355,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,481 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at $224,040,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the 4th quarter valued at about $146,419,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.