Piper Sandler Boosts Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target to $200.00

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $150.00 to $200.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 23.38% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.59.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $162.10 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -92.10 and a beta of 1.53. Natera has a one year low of $53.31 and a one year high of $167.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.64. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,728 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.41, for a total value of $692,226.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 185,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,090,827.94. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 256 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.07, for a total transaction of $30,737.92. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,434,752.37. The trade was a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,821 shares of company stock worth $4,776,878 over the last quarter. 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 modified their holdings of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Natera during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Natera by 148.4% during 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Natera by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Natera by 34.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Natera during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.