Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,490,000 shares, a drop of 44.2% from the January 31st total of 4,460,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NTRA. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Natera from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.69.

Natera Trading Down 8.0 %

NTRA stock traded down $12.48 on Monday, reaching $143.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,862,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,314,735. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.39. The firm has a market cap of $18.89 billion, a PE ratio of -81.31 and a beta of 1.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.35. Natera has a 12-month low of $83.13 and a 12-month high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 4,858 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.59, for a total transaction of $809,294.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 114,912 shares in the company, valued at $19,143,190.08. This trade represents a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Fesko sold 663 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.77, for a total transaction of $117,861.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 156,044 shares in the company, valued at $27,739,941.88. The trade was a 0.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,299 shares of company stock worth $34,948,265 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Natera by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,316,470 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,949,697,000 after buying an additional 879,463 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Natera by 134.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,742,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,067,327,000 after buying an additional 3,871,862 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Natera by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,701,425 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,060,836,000 after buying an additional 2,036,396 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,240,041 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $512,898,000 after acquiring an additional 439,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 3.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,482,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $315,194,000 after acquiring an additional 85,236 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.