Insider Selling: Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Sells 1,698 Shares of Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Steven Chapman sold 1,698 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.99, for a total transaction of $545,041.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 98,199 shares in the company, valued at $31,520,897.01. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Steven Leonard Chapman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 3rd, Steven Chapman sold 3,076 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.39, for a total transaction of $819,415.64.
• On Tuesday, July 28th, Steven Chapman sold 3,580 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.07, for a total transaction of $909,570.60.
• On Monday, July 27th, Steven Chapman sold 2,190 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.49, for a total transaction of $570,473.10.

Natera Trading Up 0.8%

NTRA stock traded up $2.50 on Thursday, hitting $327.67. The company had a trading volume of 708,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,439,570. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $157.43 and a 12-month high of $343.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $291.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.00. The stock has a market cap of $47.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -240.93 and a beta of 1.54.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.24 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 7.11% and a negative return on equity of 11.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.74) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in Natera during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Natera in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in Natera in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera in the third quarter worth about $32,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Natera from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Natera from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $348.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.38.

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.