Head-To-Head Contrast: Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) vs. Danaher (NYSE:DHR)

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) and Danaher (NYSE:DHR) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Natera and Danaher”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Natera	$2.31 billion	11.57	-$208.16 million	($1.63)	-114.33
Danaher	$24.57 billion	4.67	$3.61 billion	$5.17	31.32

Danaher has higher revenue and earnings than Natera. Natera is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Danaher, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Natera and Danaher’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Natera	-9.05%	-14.74%	-10.27%
Danaher	14.89%	10.91%	6.94%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Natera and Danaher, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Natera	1	3	14	1	2.79
Danaher	0	3	19	0	2.86

Natera currently has a consensus price target of $256.60, suggesting a potential upside of 37.69%. Danaher has a consensus price target of $238.65, suggesting a potential upside of 47.36%. Given Danaher’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Danaher is more favorable than Natera.

Risk and Volatility

Natera has a beta of 1.57, meaning that its share price is 57% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Danaher has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.9% of Natera shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.1% of Danaher shares are held by institutional investors. 5.6% of Natera shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.8% of Danaher shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Danaher beats Natera on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company also provides Signatera, a ctDNA blood test for molecular residual disease assessment and surveillance of disease recurrence in patients previously diagnosed with cancer; Altera, a tissue based comprehensive genomic profiling test; Prospera to assess active rejection in patients who have undergone kidney, heart, and lung transplantation; and Renasight, a kidney gene panel test. In addition, it offers Constellation, a cloud-based software product that enables laboratory customers to gain access through the cloud to the company's algorithms and bioinformatics to validate and launch tests. The company offers products through its direct sales force, as well as through a network of laboratory and distribution partners. It has a partnership agreement with BGI Genomics Co., Ltd. to develop, manufacture, and commercialize NGS-based genetic testing assays; and Foundation Medicine, Inc. to develop and commercialize personalized circulating tumor DNA monitoring assays. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services worldwide. The Biotechnology segments offers bioprocess technologies, consumables, and services that advance, accelerate, and integrate the development and manufacture of therapeutics; cell line and cell culture media development services; cell culture media, process liquids and buffers for manufacturing, chromatography resins, filtration technologies, aseptic fill finish; single-use hardware and consumables and services, such as the design and installation of full manufacturing suites; lab filtration, separation, and purification; lab-scale protein purification and analytical tools; reagents, membranes, and services; and healthcare filtration solutions. The Life Sciences segment provides mass spectrometers; flow cytometry, genomics, lab automation, centrifugation, liquid handling automation instruments, antibodies and reagents, and particle counting and characterization; microscopes; protein consumables; industrial filtration products; and genomic medicines, such as custom nucleic acid products, plasmid DNA, RNA, and proteins under the ABCAM, ALDEVRON, BECKMAN COULTER, IDT, LEICA MICROSYSTEMS, MOLECULAR DEVICES, PALL, PHENOMENEX and SCIEX brands. The Diagnostics segment offers chemistry, immunoassay, microbiology, and automation systems; and molecular, acute care, and pathology diagnostics products. This segment also provides clinical instruments, reagents, consumables, software, and services for hospitals, physicians' offices, reference laboratories, and other critical care settings. The company was formerly known as Diversified Mortgage Investors, Inc. and changed its name to Danaher Corporation in 1984. Danaher Corporation was founded in 1969 and is based in Washington, the District of Columbia.