Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $175.70 and last traded at $175.53, with a volume of 715692 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $170.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRA has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $153.67.

Natera Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $157.01 and a 200-day moving average of $131.05. The company has a market cap of $23.32 billion, a PE ratio of -100.35 and a beta of 1.65.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company posted ($0.95) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,523 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total transaction of $589,799.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 191,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,927,655.20. This represents a 2.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Roelof Botha sold 87,473 shares of Natera 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,224,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,135,977.44. The trade was a 6.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 127,932 shares of company stock valued at $20,635,430 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTRA. 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Natera by 205.4% in 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 buying an additional 1,883,481 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Natera by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,482,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $315,194,000 after buying an additional 85,236 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 7.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,090,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $265,747,000 after acquiring an additional 143,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duquesne Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Natera by 2.4% in the second quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 1,974,880 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $213,860,000 after acquiring an additional 45,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

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.