Insider Selling: Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Sells $692,226.48 in Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.41, for a total value of $692,226.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 185,034 shares in the company, valued at $27,090,827.94. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

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

• On Monday, October 28th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,960 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.21, for a total value of $468,111.60.
• On Monday, October 21st, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 1,709 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.76, for a total value of $206,378.84.
• On Tuesday, October 15th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,523 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total value of $589,799.20.
• On Monday, September 16th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,024 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.48, for a total transaction of $645,483.52.

Natera Stock Down 3.3 %

NTRA stock opened at $146.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $19.28 billion, a PE ratio of -82.99 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 4.01, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.01 and a twelve month high of $167.79. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.76.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The company had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.43 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Natera by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,044,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,010,152,000 after purchasing an additional 72,848 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Natera by 13.6% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,460,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $483,034,000 after acquiring an additional 532,874 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Natera by 205.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $355,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,481 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Natera by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,482,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $315,194,000 after buying an additional 85,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 7.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,090,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $265,747,000 after purchasing an additional 143,825 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NTRA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Natera from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Craig Hallum upped their price target on shares of Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Natera from $132.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.65.

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.