Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Given New $176.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $132.00 to $176.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 20.50% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Craig Hallum upped their price target on shares of Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group cut their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.65.

Natera Trading Down 3.3 %

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $146.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a PE ratio of -82.99 and a beta of 1.53. Natera has a one year low of $52.01 and a one year high of $167.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a current ratio of 4.39.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,196 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.21, for a total transaction of $141,379.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 110,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,085,255.95. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,728 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.41, for a total value of $692,226.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 185,034 shares in the company, valued at $27,090,827.94. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,821 shares of company stock valued at $4,776,878 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 32.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 430 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Natera by 3.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. RiverPark Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 3.5% during the third quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 5.4% during the third quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently 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.