Morgan Stanley Boosts Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target to $176.00

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its price target lifted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $132.00 to $176.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 20.50% from the stock’s current price.

NTRA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Craig Hallum lifted their price objective on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.65.

Natera Trading Down 3.3 %

Natera stock opened at $146.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $19.28 billion, a PE ratio of -82.99 and a beta of 1.53. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $127.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.46. Natera has a 52 week low of $52.01 and a 52 week high of $167.79.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted 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. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The business had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.95) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Natera will post -1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 496 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.09, for a total transaction of $59,068.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,850,054.26. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,196 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.21, for a total value of $141,379.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 110,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,085,255.95. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 36,821 shares of company stock worth $4,776,878. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Natera by 7.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,090,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $265,747,000 after buying an additional 143,825 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Natera by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 5,513 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd lifted its position in shares of Natera by 211.5% during the third quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 8,193 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,040,000 after purchasing an additional 5,563 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Natera in the third quarter worth about $1,267,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in Natera by 34.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Natera Company Profile

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.