Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Given New $150.00 Price Target at Leerink Partners

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its price objective hoisted by Leerink Partners from $140.00 to $150.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Leerink Partners currently has an outperform rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.44.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $122.40 on Thursday. 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 has a 12-month low of $36.90 and a 12-month high of $133.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $123.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.23 and a beta of 1.53.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.30) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $413.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $343.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.97) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 58.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Natera will post -1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,523 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total value of $589,799.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 191,163 shares in the company, valued at $24,927,655.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total transaction of $589,799.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 191,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,927,655.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.67, for a total value of $377,010.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,217,479.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,765 shares of company stock valued at $6,016,700. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,971,895 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $687,280,000 after purchasing an additional 588,147 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the 1st quarter valued at about $251,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in shares of Natera by 6.6% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 7,235 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 17.5% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 25.0% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,776 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares during the period. 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.