Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Monday.

NTRA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.56.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $147.92 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $19.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -84.05 and a beta of 1.66. Natera has a 52 week low of $83.13 and a 52 week high of $183.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $147.62.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 156,044 shares in the company, valued at $27,739,941.88. The trade was a 0.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.87, for a total transaction of $233,416.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,032 shares in the company, valued at $17,487,139.84. The trade was a 1.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,299 shares of company stock worth $34,948,265 over the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Natera by 104.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Natera by 345.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Natera by 34.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 372.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 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.