Natera Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:NTRA)

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors bought 4,501 put options on the company. This is an increase of 255% compared to the typical volume of 1,268 put options.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, CFO Michael Brophy sold 2,419 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.96, for a total transaction of $614,329.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,788,758.20. This represents a 4.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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. Also, CEO Steven Chapman sold 3,580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.07, for a total transaction of $909,570.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,162,350.11. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 51,712 shares of company stock worth $15,169,033. 5.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 32.7% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,290,000 after purchasing an additional 4,797 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Natera by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,336,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden lifted its stake in Natera by 16.9% in the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 96,737 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,259,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 15.7% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the second quarter worth approximately $11,695,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NTRA shares. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Leerink Partners set a $330.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Natera from $350.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $249.00 to $363.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $336.07.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA traded up $2.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $411.40. 582,887 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,367,254. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $314.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $252.34. The company has a market cap of $59.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -302.47 and a beta of 1.54. Natera has a 12-month low of $157.43 and a 12-month high of $415.75.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the firm posted ($0.74) earnings per share. Natera’s revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Natera will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Natera Company Profile

Natera, Inc is a diagnostics company that develops and commercializes molecular testing services based on cell-free DNA and other genomic technologies. The company focuses on reproductive health, oncology and organ health, providing tests intended to support screening, diagnosis, treatment planning and disease monitoring.

Its reproductive health portfolio includes Panorama, a noninvasive prenatal test that screens for certain chromosomal conditions, and Horizon, a carrier screening test.