Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NTRA. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Craig Hallum upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.69.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTRA traded down $12.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $143.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,862,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,314,816. The company has a market capitalization of $18.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -81.31 and a beta of 1.66. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $83.13 and a fifty-two week high of $183.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $167.44 and a 200-day moving average of $147.35.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.77, for a total transaction of $117,861.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 156,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,739,941.88. The trade was a 0.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $12,958,888.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 267,629 shares in the company, valued at $44,150,756.13. This represents a 22.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 208,299 shares of company stock valued at $34,948,265. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natera

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTRA. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Natera by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,963 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Natera by 34.3% in the 3rd 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, Colonial Trust Co SC raised its stake in Natera by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,325 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.