Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Sells $545,041.02 in Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Steven Chapman sold 1,698 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.99, for a total value of $545,041.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 98,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,520,897.01. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Monday, August 3rd, Steven Chapman sold 3,076 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.39, for a total value of $819,415.64.
• On Tuesday, July 28th, Steven Chapman sold 3,580 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.07, for a total value of $909,570.60.
• On Monday, July 27th, Steven Chapman sold 2,190 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.49, for a total value of $570,473.10.

Natera Stock Performance

Natera stock opened at $328.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $47.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -241.31 and a beta of 1.54. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $157.43 and a one year high of $343.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $292.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $237.63.

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

Institutional Trading of Natera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTRA. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Natera by 28,373.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 56,324,789 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $15,289,364,000 after purchasing an additional 56,126,974 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Natera by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,944,800,000 after buying an additional 1,225,420 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,962,770,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 94.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,976,325 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,140,026,000 after acquiring an additional 2,420,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $545,624,000 after acquiring an additional 72,087 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on NTRA shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Stephens boosted their price target on Natera from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Natera in a report on Friday, June 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $245.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Natera in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.38.

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.