Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Director Gail Boxer Marcus Sells 4,000 Shares of Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.69, for a total transaction of $590,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,433,183.76. This trade represents a 29.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $148.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -84.22 and a beta of 1.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $164.09 and a 200 day moving average of $148.21. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $83.13 and a twelve month high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Natera

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Natera by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,353 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 34.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the third quarter worth approximately $270,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Natera by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 671,382 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $85,232,000 after purchasing an additional 153,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Natera by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 315,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,058,000 after purchasing an additional 12,815 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRA has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays began coverage on Natera in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Natera in a report on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Natera from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.12.

Natera Company Profile

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.