Solomon Moshkevich Sells 15,160 Shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 15,160 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.89, for a total transaction of $4,955,652.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 110,859 shares in the company, valued at $36,238,698.51. The trade was a 12.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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.

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

• On Tuesday, September 1st, Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.73, for a total value of $962,190.00.
• On Monday, August 3rd, Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,410 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.58, for a total value of $905,627.80.
• On Tuesday, July 28th, Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,204 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.07, for a total value of $305,900.28.
• On Monday, July 27th, Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,010 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.49, for a total value of $263,094.90.
• On Wednesday, July 1st, Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.90, for a total transaction of $818,700.00.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $328.18 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $292.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $237.63. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $157.43 and a 1-year high of $343.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -241.31 and a beta of 1.54.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) 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 business had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.74) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on NTRA. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $355.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Natera from $220.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Natera by 28,373.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 56,324,789 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,289,364,000 after acquiring an additional 56,126,974 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Natera by 10.5% in 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. bought a new position in Natera in the 2nd quarter worth $2,962,770,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Natera by 94.7% during the 4th 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 boosted its holdings in Natera by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,624,000 after acquiring an additional 72,087 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Natera Company Profile

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.