Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Earns Overweight Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $150.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Natera in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a buy rating and a $142.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Natera from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Natera from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $120.07.

Natera Stock Up 1.1 %

NTRA opened at $126.51 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $112.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.97. Natera has a 52 week low of $36.90 and a 52 week high of $128.28. The company has a market cap of $15.65 billion, a PE ratio of -40.55 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 4.01, a current ratio of 4.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.69) by $0.39. Natera had a negative return on equity of 36.74% and a negative net margin of 21.47%. The company had revenue of $413.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $343.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.97) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Natera will post -1.96 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 37,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.10, for a total transaction of $4,053,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 213,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,063,243.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.01, for a total value of $1,452,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 287,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,783,235.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 37,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.10, for a total value of $4,053,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 213,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,063,243.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,283 shares of company stock worth $9,523,685 over the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at about $380,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new position in Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at about $285,000. Maven Securities LTD bought a new stake in Natera during the second quarter worth approximately $217,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter worth $326,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in Natera by 148.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

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.