Canaccord Genuity Group Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $250.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 6.14% from the stock’s current price.

NTRA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research lowered Natera from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Stephens increased their price objective on Natera from $197.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Natera from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Natera to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 27th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.29.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $235.53 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -102.85 and a beta of 1.63. Natera has a one year low of $125.38 and a one year high of $246.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $202.57 and its 200 day moving average is $175.16.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $592.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.55 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 25.07% and a negative net margin of 14.61%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.26) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Natera will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Roelof Botha sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.12, for a total value of $17,709,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,154,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $272,529,231.76. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.99, for a total transaction of $479,970.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 117,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,808,264.41. This represents a 2.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 312,053 shares of company stock valued at $64,527,735. 5.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTRA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Natera by 56.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,537,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,490,144,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795,315 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Natera by 44.3% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,625,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,795,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,263,822 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the second quarter worth $277,749,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the 1st quarter valued at $113,375,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 140.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,253,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $177,298,000 after buying an additional 732,156 shares in the last quarter. 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.