Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Short Interest Down 44.2% in February

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

Natera Trading Down 8.0 %

Shares of NTRA opened at $143.11 on Tuesday. Natera has a 1 year low of $83.13 and a 1 year high of $183.00. 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 stock has a market cap of $18.89 billion, a PE ratio of -81.31 and a beta of 1.66. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.35.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The firm had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.91 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In related news, insider John Fesko sold 669 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.60, for a total transaction of $106,772.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,217,063.20. This trade represents a 0.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 4,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.59, for a total value of $809,294.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,143,190.08. This trade represents a 4.06 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Natera by 18.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,833 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Natera by 5.2% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Natera by 9,755.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,980 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 14,828 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Natera by 17.8% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,858 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,378,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR acquired a new position in Natera during the third quarter worth about $258,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on NTRA. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Natera from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Craig Hallum raised their target price on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com cut Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.69.

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.