Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Upgraded to “Moderate Buy” at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) to a moderate buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on NTRA. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.12.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $148.22 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -84.22 and a beta of 1.80. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.21. Natera has a 1 year low of $83.13 and a 1 year high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.91 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Natera will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 25,931 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $4,277,837.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 109,665 shares in the company, valued at $18,091,435.05. This trade represents a 19.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 78,553 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $12,958,888.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 267,629 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 298,946 shares of company stock valued at $47,803,462. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 27.0% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 86,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,936,000 after buying an additional 18,316 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the third quarter valued at about $385,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter valued at about $573,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Natera during the third quarter worth about $505,000. Finally, First Turn Management LLC purchased a new position in Natera during the third quarter worth about $19,760,000. 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.