Insider Selling: Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) CFO Sells $203,703.18 in Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.49, for a total value of $203,703.18. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,773,429.86. The trade was a 1.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.

Michael Burkes Brophy also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, July 29th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,863 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $464,594.94.
• On Tuesday, July 28th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 2,419 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.96, for a total value of $614,329.24.
• On Monday, May 4th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 482 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.49, for a total value of $101,456.18.
• On Friday, May 1st, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 313 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.16, for a total value of $64,528.08.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA stock opened at $267.76 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $246.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.22. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.81 and a fifty-two week high of $288.04. The firm has a market cap of $38.35 billion, a PE ratio of -164.27 and a beta of 1.51.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coatue Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 1,446.1% in the 4th quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 2,633,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $603,270,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463,008 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Natera by 94.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,976,325 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,140,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,420,263 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Natera during the 4th quarter valued at about $372,398,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Natera by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,944,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,420 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 39.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,400,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $386,338,000 after purchasing an additional 673,315 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NTRA. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Natera from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group set a $260.00 price objective on Natera in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $267.83.

Natera Company Profile

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.