Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock Price Expected to Rise, The Goldman Sachs Group Analyst Says

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $160.00 to $190.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the medical research company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 14.98% from the stock’s current price.

NTRA has been the topic of several other research reports. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.88.

Natera Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $165.25. The company had a trading volume of 206,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,329,121. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $166.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.81. 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 company has a market capitalization of $21.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -93.86 and a beta of 1.65. Natera has a 12-month low of $62.96 and a 12-month high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.95) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Natera will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, insider John Fesko sold 669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.60, for a total value of $106,772.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 114,142 shares in the company, valued at $18,217,063.20. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.45, for a total transaction of $235,955.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 68,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,706,208.95. This represents a 2.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,546 shares of company stock worth $40,338,829 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTRA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 35.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 264,801 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,680,000 after acquiring an additional 69,523 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 58.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 72,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,068,000 after purchasing an additional 26,615 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 24.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 36,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,926,000 after acquiring an additional 7,132 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $317,000. Finally, Creative Planning grew its position in Natera by 28.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,929 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is 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.