Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Receives $140.59 Average Price Target from Analysts

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Buy" from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.59.

A number of brokerages have commented on NTRA. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com cut Natera from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Natera from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Natera Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NTRA stock traded up $4.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $174.00. 1,039,899 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,340,584. Natera has a fifty-two week low of $55.56 and a fifty-two week high of $174.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.28. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -96.12 and a beta of 1.63.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The firm had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Natera will post -1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, Director Roelof Botha sold 87,473 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.12, for a total transaction of $14,793,433.76. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,224,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,135,977.44. This represents a 6.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 256 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.07, for a total transaction of $30,737.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,891 shares in the company, valued at $13,434,752.37. The trade was a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,976 shares of company stock worth $21,119,238. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NTRA. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Natera by 205.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $355,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,481 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Natera by 13.6% in the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,460,557 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $483,034,000 after purchasing an additional 532,874 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Natera by 257.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 651,523 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $70,553,000 after purchasing an additional 469,327 shares during the last quarter. PointState Capital LP grew its position in shares of Natera by 112.0% in the third quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 782,538 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $99,343,000 after purchasing an additional 413,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Natera by 53.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,383 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $103,783,000 after purchasing an additional 334,630 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.