The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target to $100.00

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its target price lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $90.00 to $100.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Natera from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Raymond James lowered Natera from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Natera from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Natera from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $120.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Natera from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $86.40.

Natera Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of Natera stock opened at $90.42 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.86 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 3.96. Natera has a 52-week low of $36.90 and a 52-week high of $98.82. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.91.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.73) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $311.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.38 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 62.19% and a negative net margin of 40.16%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Natera will post -2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.16, for a total transaction of $133,457.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,550 shares in the company, valued at $11,965,488. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.16, for a total transaction of $133,457.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,550 shares in the company, valued at $11,965,488. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Fesko sold 2,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total value of $153,482.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 108,494 shares in the company, valued at $7,061,874.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,477 shares of company stock valued at $28,552,682 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Natera

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTRA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Natera in the fourth quarter valued at $111,690,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Natera by 2,280.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,202,382 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $48,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,873 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Natera by 54.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,832,266 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $115,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,444 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Natera by 115.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,654,303 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $73,203,000 after acquiring an additional 887,409 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Natera by 52.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,529,496 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $111,930,000 after acquiring an additional 865,404 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.