Insider Selling: Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) CFO Sells 37,175 Shares of Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 37,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.54, for a total transaction of $9,016,424.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 64,123 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,552,392.42. This represents a 36.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

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

• On Tuesday, January 20th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 23,948 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.74, for a total transaction of $5,621,553.52.
• On Wednesday, October 29th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,867 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.64, for a total value of $355,924.88.
• On Tuesday, October 28th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 2,415 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.16, for a total value of $461,651.40.
• On Monday, October 27th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 781 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.32, for a total value of $150,201.92.
• On Friday, October 24th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 755 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.77, for a total value of $148,561.35.

Natera Price Performance

Natera stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $242.91. The company had a trading volume of 971,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 950,311. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $233.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.60. The firm has a market cap of $33.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -106.07 and a beta of 1.62. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.38 and a 12-month high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by ($0.25). Natera had a negative net margin of 14.61% and a negative return on equity of 25.07%. The company had revenue of $592.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $514.55 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.26) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in Natera in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Natera by 95.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 225 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Natera to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Natera from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.50.

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.