Steven Leonard Chapman Sells 2,322 Shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 2,322 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.53, for a total value of $558,510.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 216,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,153,638.84. The trade was a 1.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• On Wednesday, January 28th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,648 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.66, for a total value of $866,983.68.
• On Wednesday, January 21st, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 1,590 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $373,650.00.
• On Tuesday, January 20th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 71,932 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.74, for a total value of $16,885,317.68.
• On Friday, January 2nd, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,848 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.08, for a total transaction of $881,499.84.
• On Monday, December 1st, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,400 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.07, for a total transaction of $1,047,508.00.
• On Monday, November 3rd, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 160,703 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.96, for a total transaction of $32,134,171.88.

Natera Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA traded down $4.45 during trading on Thursday, reaching $231.48. 947,123 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,043,018. 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 simple moving average of $235.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.29. The firm has a market cap of $32.02 billion, a PE ratio of -101.08 and a beta of 1.62.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $592.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $514.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.26) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Natera by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its position in Natera by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its stake in Natera by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,804 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp lifted its stake in Natera by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 931 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BOKF NA lifted its position in shares of Natera by 1.9% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 3,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Natera News

Here are the key news stories impacting Natera this week:

• Negative Sentiment: CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold a total of 5,064 shares across Jan. 27–29 for roughly $1.19M (transactions at ~$240.53, $237.56 and $230.40); his holdings fell by ~3% but he still holds ~59k shares. CFO Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Steven L. Chapman sold 5,970 shares across Jan. 27–28 for roughly $1.43M (avg ~$237–240); his stake decreased ~1–2% and he still owns ~213k shares. CEO Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Other insiders (John Fesko and Solomon Moshkevich) also sold multiple tranches (combined ~3,925 shares, ~ $0.94M), each reducing holdings by under 1%. Fesko Form 4 Moshkevich Form 4

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, January 12th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Natera to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $197.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.