Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Barclays

Barclays began coverage on shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) in a research note issued on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 16.33% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on NTRA. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Natera from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.94.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $171.93 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $22.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -97.69 and a beta of 1.65. Natera has a 12 month low of $62.96 and a 12 month high of $183.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.41. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.95) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Natera will post -1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other news, Director Roelof Botha sold 87,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.12, for a total transaction of $14,793,433.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,224,787 shares in the company, valued at $207,135,977.44. This trade represents a 6.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total value of $350,668.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,073,262.58. The trade was a 10.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 224,824 shares of company stock worth $36,912,749 over the last three months. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Natera by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Natera by 104.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its stake in Natera by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 998 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in Natera by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 16,280 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,577,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.