Insider Selling: Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) CFO Sells $406,851.02 in Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,993 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.14, for a total transaction of $406,851.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 61,361 shares in the company, valued at $12,526,234.54. The trade was a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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.

Michael Burkes Brophy also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, April 29th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 3,070 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.74, for a total transaction of $594,781.80.
• On Tuesday, March 10th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 785 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total value of $160,242.05.
• On Tuesday, February 3rd, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 6,939 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.83, for a total value of $1,580,912.37.
• On Thursday, January 29th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,867 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.40, for a total value of $430,156.80.

Natera Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NTRA opened at $207.28 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.75. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.81 and a 52 week high of $256.36. The stock has a market cap of $29.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.48 and a beta of 1.57.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Natera by 132.9% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 170 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Natera by 3,373.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,253 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,251,000 after purchasing an additional 10,929 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the first quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp grew its position in shares of Natera by 5.5% during the first quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 982 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, January 12th. William Blair began coverage on Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.