Insider Selling: Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Insider Sells 3,405 Shares of Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total transaction of $693,564.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 142,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,984,068.55. This trade represents a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 Monday, April 27th, Solomon Moshkevich sold 2,182 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.10, for a total transaction of $445,346.20.
• On Wednesday, April 1st, Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.30, for a total transaction of $606,900.00.
• On Tuesday, March 10th, Solomon Moshkevich sold 915 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $186,778.95.
• On Monday, March 2nd, Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.85, for a total transaction of $599,550.00.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRA traded down $4.79 on Tuesday, hitting $206.77. 1,065,445 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,321,366. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $201.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $214.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -135.14 and a beta of 1.57. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.81 and a twelve month high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.41) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.71 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on NTRA shares. William Blair started coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Natera from $239.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Natera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.47.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Robinhood Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,981,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Natera by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,628,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,871,914,000 after buying an additional 1,003,129 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,096,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Natera by 63.2% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 148,247 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $23,863,000 after buying an additional 57,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,323,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

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.