Insider Selling: Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Insider Sells 3,405 Shares of Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total transaction of $693,564.45. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 142,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,984,068.55. This trade represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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.

Solomon Moshkevich also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, April 27th, Solomon Moshkevich sold 2,182 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.10, for a total transaction of $445,346.20.
• On Wednesday, April 1st, Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.30, for a total transaction of $606,900.00.
• On Tuesday, March 10th, Solomon Moshkevich sold 915 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $186,778.95.
• On Monday, March 2nd, Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.85, for a total transaction of $599,550.00.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA traded down $4.79 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $206.77. 1,065,445 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,321,366. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.81 and a 1-year high of $256.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.42 billion, a PE ratio of -135.14 and a beta of 1.57. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $201.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $214.51.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. The company had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.68 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.41) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in Natera in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Palladiem LLC bought a new stake in Natera in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust raised its position in Natera by 103.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 163 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Natera by 132.9% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 170 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Natera in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NTRA shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $239.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.