Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Hits New 52-Week High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $310.00 and last traded at $314.9070, with a volume of 9514 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $265.38.

The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $752.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.24 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.05% and a negative return on equity of 14.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.74) earnings per share.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Natera in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Natera from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.05.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $4,132,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,062,500. This represents a 79.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,410 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.58, for a total transaction of $905,627.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 129,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,264,866.02. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 181,045 shares of company stock valued at $41,330,968 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Natera by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 438,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $100,538,000 after buying an additional 71,355 shares during the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions lifted its holdings in Natera by 44.6% in the first quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 9,346 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,869,000 after acquiring an additional 2,883 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Natera by 3,373.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,253 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,251,000 after purchasing an additional 10,929 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Natera by 286.8% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 65,717 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $15,055,000 after purchasing an additional 48,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aubrey Capital Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Natera by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd now owns 21,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,902,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Natera Stock Up 17.9%

The firm has a market cap of $44.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -191.48 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.09.

About Natera

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.