Steven Leonard Chapman Sells 3,076 Shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,076 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.39, for a total transaction of $819,415.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,611,561.83. The trade was a 2.99% 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.

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

• On Tuesday, July 28th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,580 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.07, for a total transaction of $909,570.60.
• On Monday, July 27th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 2,190 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.49, for a total transaction of $570,473.10.
• On Thursday, June 4th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 41,124 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.03, for a total transaction of $9,089,637.72.

Natera Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NTRA traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $274.58. 1,128,660 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,104,859. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.75 and a 52-week high of $288.04. The company has a market cap of $39.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -168.45 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $251.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NTRA. Zacks Research downgraded Natera from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group set a $260.00 price objective on Natera in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, July 17th. BTIG Research set a $275.00 price objective on shares of Natera and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.83.

Institutional Trading of Natera

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Robinhood Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Natera during the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,981,000. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 438,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $100,538,000 after purchasing an additional 71,355 shares during the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions grew its stake in shares of Natera by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 9,346 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,869,000 after buying an additional 2,883 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Natera by 3,373.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,253 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,251,000 after buying an additional 10,929 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 286.8% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 65,717 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $15,055,000 after buying an additional 48,728 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.