Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Now Covered by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) in a research report report published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $251.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on NTRA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays started 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. Craig Hallum upped their target price on shares of Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.12.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $142.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -80.97 and a beta of 1.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $164.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.25. 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 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Natera will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 87,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.40, for a total transaction of $12,514,804.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 203,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,160,963.60. This trade represents a 30.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Fesko sold 669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.60, for a total value of $106,772.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 114,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,217,063.20. The trade was a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 294,946 shares of company stock valued at $47,212,702. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natera

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Natera by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,353 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the third quarter worth about $270,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Natera by 29.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 671,382 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $85,232,000 after purchasing an additional 153,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Natera by 4.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 315,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,058,000 after purchasing an additional 12,815 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.