Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Insider Sells $2,095,411.01 in Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) insider John Fesko sold 6,517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.53, for a total transaction of $2,095,411.01. Following the transaction, the insider owned 197,257 shares in the company, valued at $63,424,043.21. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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.

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

• On Monday, August 3rd, John Fesko sold 295 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.99, for a total transaction of $79,057.05.
• On Tuesday, July 28th, John Fesko sold 931 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.07, for a total transaction of $236,539.17.
• On Monday, July 27th, John Fesko sold 782 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.49, for a total transaction of $203,703.18.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $326.26 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -239.90 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $157.43 and a one year high of $343.18. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.78.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. Natera had a negative return on equity of 11.38% and a negative net margin of 7.11%.The firm had revenue of $752.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.74) earnings per share. Natera’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NTRA shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Natera in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $340.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $330.00 target price on Natera in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Natera by 28,373.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 56,324,789 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,289,364,000 after acquiring an additional 56,126,974 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Natera by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,944,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,420 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth $2,962,770,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Natera by 94.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,976,325 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,140,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,420,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,624,000 after purchasing an additional 72,087 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Natera

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.