Insider Selling: Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Sells 902 Shares of Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 902 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.16, for a total transaction of $185,956.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 149,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,896,580.72. This trade represents a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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.

Steven Leonard Chapman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, April 27th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,838 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.14, for a total transaction of $1,191,769.32.
• On Tuesday, March 10th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,623 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $1,147,822.99.
• On Monday, March 2nd, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,950 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.02, for a total transaction of $790,079.00.

Natera Price Performance

NTRA traded down $4.79 on Tuesday, reaching $206.77. 1,065,445 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,321,366. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $201.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $214.51. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.81 and a 52-week high of $256.36. The company has a market cap of $29.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.14 and a beta of 1.57.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.41) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Natera

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in Natera in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the third quarter worth $32,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 132.9% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 170 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 103.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 163 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.47.

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.