Sanford C. Bernstein Raises Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target to $135.00

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its price objective hoisted by Sanford C. Bernstein from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Natera from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Natera from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.69.

Natera Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $126.73 on Wednesday. Natera has a 52 week low of $37.67 and a 52 week high of $133.54. The company has a quick ratio of 4.01, a current ratio of 4.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.82. The firm has a market cap of $15.67 billion, a PE ratio of -51.73 and a beta of 1.53.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.69) by $0.39. The business had revenue of $413.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $343.00 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 36.74% and a negative net margin of 21.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 58.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.97) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Natera will post -1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.82, for a total value of $307,314.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 299,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,082,374.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Natera news, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.82, for a total value of $307,314.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 299,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,082,374.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,196 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.21, for a total value of $141,379.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 110,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,085,255.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,298 shares of company stock valued at $5,921,336 over the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Natera by 13.6% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,460,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $483,034,000 after purchasing an additional 532,874 shares during the last quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Natera by 295.9% during the first quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 656,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $60,063,000 after purchasing an additional 490,822 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Natera by 257.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 651,523 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,553,000 after purchasing an additional 469,327 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the first quarter worth approximately $33,956,000. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the first quarter worth approximately $33,938,000. 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.