Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target Cut to $250.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $265.00 to $250.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

NTRA has been the subject of several other research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.47.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $207.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $29.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.32 and a beta of 1.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $225.25 and its 200-day moving average is $204.78. Natera has a one year low of $125.38 and a one year high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. The business had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.68 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 16.71% and a negative net margin of 9.03%.During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.41) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 48,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.42, for a total value of $11,011,448.98. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,342 shares in the company, valued at $4,626,177.64. The trade was a 70.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 23,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.74, for a total transaction of $5,447,141.70. Following the sale, the insider owned 144,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,035,422.08. This represents a 13.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 367,669 shares of company stock valued at $85,584,453. 5.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Natera by 9.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,628,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,871,914,000 after buying an additional 1,003,129 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,096,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Natera by 63.2% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 148,247 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $23,863,000 after acquiring an additional 57,400 shares in the last quarter. SWS Partners boosted its position in shares of Natera by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. SWS Partners now owns 47,037 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,572,000 after acquiring an additional 4,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Natera by 192.5% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 8,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after acquiring an additional 5,614 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Company Profile

Natera is a global diagnostics company that develops and commercializes cell-free DNA and other genetic testing technologies for clinical applications. The company focuses on three principal areas: reproductive health (including non-invasive prenatal testing and carrier screening), oncology (tumor-informed assays for minimal residual disease and recurrence monitoring), and organ transplantation (cell-free DNA tests to detect allograft injury). Natera combines laboratory testing, proprietary bioinformatics, and clinical reporting to deliver personalized genetic information to clinicians and patients.

Key product offerings include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for fetal chromosomal abnormalities and select single-gene conditions; Horizon carrier screening for inherited conditions; Signatera, a personalized, tumor-informed assay used for detecting minimal residual disease and monitoring treatment response in cancer patients; and Prospera, a donor-derived cell-free DNA test used to assess the risk of organ rejection.