Insider Selling: Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CFO Sells $333,067.60 in Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,886 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.60, for a total value of $333,067.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,979,822.60. This represents a 1.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Michael Burkes Brophy also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, January 27th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,442 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.87, for a total value of $233,416.54.
• On Friday, January 24th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 946 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.98, for a total value of $162,693.08.
• On Wednesday, January 22nd, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 25,931 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total value of $4,277,837.07.

Natera Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $176.92 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $166.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.50. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.74 and a twelve month high of $183.00. The company has a market capitalization of $23.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -100.52 and a beta of 1.65. 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 (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The firm had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.95) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on NTRA. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Natera from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.88.

Institutional Trading of Natera

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Natera by 104.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Natera by 148.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Natera by 345.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Natera by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Natera by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

About Natera

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.