Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Shares Gap Up to $92.36

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $92.36, but opened at $94.62. Natera shares last traded at $95.49, with a volume of 264,017 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Natera from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Raymond James lowered Natera from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Natera in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Natera from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.50.

Natera Trading Up 4.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 3.96 and a current ratio of 4.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.73. The company has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.53 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 447 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.22, for a total transaction of $40,328.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 347,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,372,290.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 914 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.42, for a total transaction of $82,643.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,512,410.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Sheena sold 447 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.22, for a total value of $40,328.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 347,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,372,290.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 366,477 shares of company stock valued at $28,552,682. 9.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natera

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTRA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Natera in the 4th quarter valued at $111,690,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Natera by 2,280.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,202,382 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $48,300,000 after buying an additional 1,151,873 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Natera by 54.8% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,832,266 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $115,217,000 after buying an additional 1,002,444 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $73,203,000 after purchasing an additional 887,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Natera by 52.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,529,496 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $111,930,000 after purchasing an additional 865,404 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

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.