Insider Selling: Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Insider Sells $2,095,411.01 in Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) insider John Fesko sold 6,517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.53, for a total value of $2,095,411.01. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 197,257 shares in the company, valued at $63,424,043.21. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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.

John Fesko also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 3rd, John Fesko sold 295 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.99, for a total value of $79,057.05.
• On Tuesday, July 28th, John Fesko sold 931 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.07, for a total value of $236,539.17.
• On Monday, July 27th, John Fesko sold 782 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.49, for a total value of $203,703.18.

Natera Stock Down 3.7%

NASDAQ:NTRA traded down $12.44 on Friday, hitting $326.26. The stock had a trading volume of 833,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,496,455. The stock has a market cap of $47.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -239.90 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $285.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.61. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $157.43 and a 52-week high of $343.18.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. Natera had a negative net margin of 7.11% and a negative return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.74) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on NTRA. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Natera in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Natera by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 244 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG raised its position in shares of Natera by 48.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 982 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,804 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

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.