Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on the stock from $160.00 to $200.00. The stock had previously closed at $175.00, but opened at $182.39. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Natera shares last traded at $171.01, with a volume of 265,199 shares traded.

NTRA has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partners increased their price target on shares of Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Natera from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $158.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 1,709 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.76, for a total transaction of $206,378.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,501,707.40. This represents a 0.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 256 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.07, for a total value of $30,737.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,891 shares in the company, valued at $13,434,752.37. This trade represents a 0.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 127,932 shares of company stock worth $20,635,430. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Natera by 34.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Natera by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 430 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in Natera by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 16,280 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,577,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Natera by 3.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,477 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 3.5% in the third quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Natera Price Performance

The company's 50-day moving average price is $160.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $132.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23. The company has a market capitalization of $22.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -96.19 and a beta of 1.65.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The firm had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $361.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.95) EPS. The business's revenue was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.61 EPS for the current year.

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.