Royal Bank of Canada Begins Coverage on Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 73.70% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on NTRA. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Natera from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.12.

Natera Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of Natera stock opened at $144.50 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $164.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.28. Natera has a 12-month low of $83.13 and a 12-month high of $183.00. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $19.53 billion, a PE ratio of -82.10 and a beta of 1.80.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Fesko sold 669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.60, for a total transaction of $106,772.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,142 shares in the company, valued at $18,217,063.20. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 87,272 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.40, for a total value of $12,514,804.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 203,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,160,963.60. This trade represents a 30.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 294,946 shares of company stock valued at $47,212,702. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Natera by 104.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Natera by 345.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Natera by 372.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. 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.