Piper Sandler Issues Positive Forecast for Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock Price

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $150.00 to $200.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective points to a potential upside of 32.20% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Natera from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Natera from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.59.

Natera Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA traded up $5.23 during trading on Monday, reaching $151.29. 658,345 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,335,641. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -85.96 and a beta of 1.53. Natera has a 52-week low of $53.31 and a 52-week high of $167.79. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s fifty day moving average is $127.38 and its 200-day moving average is $115.76.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 2,700 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.57, for a total transaction of $344,439.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 284,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,324,409.37. The trade was a 0.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,024 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.48, for a total value of $645,483.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,141,737.28. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,821 shares of company stock valued at $4,776,878 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Natera

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Natera by 148.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Natera by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Natera by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Natera in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors 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.