Insider Selling: Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Insider Sells 784 Shares of Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) insider John Fesko sold 784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.53, for a total transaction of $188,575.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 176,468 shares in the company, valued at $42,445,848.04. This trade represents a 0.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

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

• On Wednesday, January 28th, John Fesko sold 928 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.66, for a total value of $220,548.48.
• On Wednesday, January 21st, John Fesko sold 339 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total transaction of $79,665.00.
• On Tuesday, January 20th, John Fesko sold 17,806 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.74, for a total value of $4,179,780.44.

Natera Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA traded down $4.45 on Thursday, reaching $231.48. 947,123 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,043,018. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.02 billion, a PE ratio of -101.08 and a beta of 1.62. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.38 and a fifty-two week high of $256.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $235.90 and a 200 day moving average of $193.29.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by ($0.25). Natera had a negative return on equity of 25.07% and a negative net margin of 14.61%.The firm had revenue of $592.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $514.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.26) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Natera by 6.6% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 68.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Natera by 8.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $847,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $298,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 10.0% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NTRA. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $218.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Natera from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $249.20.

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.