Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $132.99 and last traded at $129.27, with a volume of 238674 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $128.20.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on NTRA. BTIG Research increased their target price on Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Natera from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. 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 report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Natera from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.07.

Natera Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.09 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.14 and a quick ratio of 4.01.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.69) by $0.39. The business had revenue of $413.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $343.00 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 36.74% and a negative net margin of 21.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.97) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.96 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,496 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.66, for a total value of $613,683.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,855 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,209,089.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,496 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.66, for a total value of $613,683.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 207,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,209,089.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 549 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.16, for a total value of $57,732.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 113,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,950,066.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 51,738 shares of company stock worth $6,040,584. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Natera by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,044,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,010,152,000 after buying an additional 72,848 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Natera by 13.6% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,460,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $483,034,000 after buying an additional 532,874 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Natera by 6.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,397,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $259,634,000 after buying an additional 148,917 shares during the last quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Natera by 2.4% during the second quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 1,974,880 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $213,860,000 after acquiring an additional 45,500 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Natera by 14.6% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,220,768 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $132,197,000 after acquiring an additional 155,802 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

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.