Insider Selling: Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Sells $1,191,769.32 in Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.14, for a total transaction of $1,191,769.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 150,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,777,983.66. This trade represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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.

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

• On Tuesday, March 10th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,623 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $1,147,822.99.
• On Monday, March 2nd, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,950 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.02, for a total transaction of $790,079.00.
• On Tuesday, February 3rd, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,725 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.77, for a total transaction of $1,090,388.25.
• On Monday, February 2nd, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 85,299 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.72, for a total transaction of $19,680,185.28.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $207.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.48 and a beta of 1.57. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.81 and a 1-year high of $256.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $202.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.75.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. The firm 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 firm posted ($0.41) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its position in Natera by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 244 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in Natera by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Natera by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp lifted its position in Natera by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 982 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $196,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in Natera by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,804 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup began coverage on Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim upped their target price on Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Natera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. William Blair began coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.47.

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.