Insider Selling: Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Insider Sells 291 Shares of Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) insider John Fesko sold 291 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.16, for a total transaction of $59,992.56. Following the sale, the insider owned 187,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,597,275.20. This represents a 0.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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, April 27th, John Fesko sold 1,688 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.10, for a total transaction of $344,520.80.
• On Tuesday, March 10th, John Fesko sold 707 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $144,319.91.

Natera Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NTRA traded down $4.79 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $206.77. 1,065,445 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,321,366. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.81 and a twelve month high of $256.36. The stock has a market cap of $29.42 billion, a PE ratio of -135.14 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $214.51.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. The business had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $600.68 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.41) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.71 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Natera by 61.4% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,528 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Natera by 2.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 669,722 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $133,938,000 after acquiring an additional 16,791 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Natera by 25.9% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 17,168 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,433,000 after acquiring an additional 3,536 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 12.1% in the first quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,820 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NTRA. William Blair began coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $239.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.