John Fesko Sells 6,517 Shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) insider John Fesko sold 6,517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.53, for a total value of $2,095,411.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 197,257 shares in the company, valued at $63,424,043.21. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. 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.

John Fesko also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 3rd, John Fesko sold 295 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.99, for a total value of $79,057.05.
• On Tuesday, July 28th, John Fesko sold 931 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.07, for a total value of $236,539.17.
• On Monday, July 27th, John Fesko sold 782 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.49, for a total value of $203,703.18.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $326.26 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $285.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.61. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $157.43 and a fifty-two week high of $343.18. The company has a market capitalization of $47.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -239.90 and a beta of 1.51.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. Natera had a negative net margin of 7.11% and a negative return on equity of 11.38%. The company had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.74) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $348.00 price target on Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Natera in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Natera from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $260.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTRA. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Continuum Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.