Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 1,822,593 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 38% from the previous session’s volume of 1,321,940 shares.The stock last traded at $104.05 and had previously closed at $106.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Natera from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Natera from $99.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Natera from $123.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $142.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.19.

Natera Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 3.98, a current ratio of 4.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.32. The stock has a market cap of $12.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.91 and a beta of 1.48.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The medical research company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by $0.16. Natera had a negative net margin of 30.24% and a negative return on equity of 49.72%. The firm had revenue of $367.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.23) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,084 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.14, for a total transaction of $380,383.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 226,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,071,527.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,084 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.14, for a total transaction of $380,383.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 226,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,071,527.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel Rabinowitz sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.59, for a total transaction of $3,137,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 204,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,388,132.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 118,259 shares of company stock valued at $12,600,885. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Natera by 3.2% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,205 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Natera by 50.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its holdings in Natera by 47.8% in the first quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 538 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Natera by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,216 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Natera by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 3,235 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during 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.