Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Thursday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on NTRA. Craig Hallum lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Natera from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.65.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $146.06 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $127.38 and a 200 day moving average of $115.76. The company has a quick ratio of 4.01, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -82.99 and a beta of 1.53. Natera has a 52 week low of $52.01 and a 52 week high of $167.79.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.95) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Natera will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,196 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 110,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,085,255.95. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was 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 owns 19,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,073,262.58. This represents a 10.24 % 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 90 days. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Natera by 148.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Natera by 50.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Natera by 34.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Company Profile

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.