Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $183.00 and last traded at $169.30, with a volume of 1734013 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $175.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.00.

Natera Stock Up 2.8 %

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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.52.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. Natera’s revenue was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.95) EPS. Analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.76, for a total transaction of $73,422.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,937,930.64. This trade represents a 0.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 1,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.76, for a total transaction of $206,378.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,501,707.40. This represents a 0.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 123,409 shares of company stock valued at $20,045,631 in the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Natera by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,460,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $483,034,000 after buying an additional 532,874 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Natera by 205.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,493,000 after buying an additional 1,883,481 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Natera by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,482,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $315,194,000 after buying an additional 85,236 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Natera by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,090,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $265,747,000 after buying an additional 143,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duquesne Family Office LLC raised its position in Natera by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 1,974,880 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $213,860,000 after buying an additional 45,500 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.