Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Reaches New 1-Year High After Earnings Beat

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $108.32 and last traded at $106.83, with a volume of 857351 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $95.55.

The medical research company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by $0.16. Natera had a negative net margin of 40.16% and a negative return on equity of 62.19%. The business had revenue of $367.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.23) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 52.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NTRA shares. Raymond James lowered shares of Natera from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Natera from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $70.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 9,326 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.36, for a total transaction of $824,045.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,821,120.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 9,326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.36, for a total value of $824,045.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,821,120.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,866 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.97, for a total transaction of $175,348.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,346,921.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 380,750 shares of company stock valued at $31,864,820 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,971,895 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $687,280,000 after buying an additional 588,147 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Natera by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,556,792 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $334,388,000 after purchasing an additional 67,102 shares during the last quarter. Kynam Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Natera by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kynam Capital Management LP now owns 3,003,668 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $132,912,000 after buying an additional 103,668 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP grew its holdings in Natera by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 2,651,783 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $117,341,000 after buying an additional 40,000 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Natera by 52.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,529,496 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $111,930,000 after buying an additional 865,404 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Natera Stock Up 10.0 %

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 market cap of $12.69 billion, a PE ratio of -28.23 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.81.

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.