Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) CFO Michael Burkes Brophy Sells 1,867 Shares of Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 1,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.40, for a total value of $430,156.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,607,193.60. The trade was a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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

• On Wednesday, January 28th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 2,413 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.56, for a total value of $573,232.28.
• On Tuesday, January 27th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 784 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.53, for a total value of $188,575.52.
• On Wednesday, January 21st, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 37,175 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.54, for a total transaction of $9,016,424.50.
• On Tuesday, January 20th, Michael Burkes Brophy sold 23,948 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.74, for a total transaction of $5,621,553.52.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $231.48 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $235.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $193.29. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.38 and a 1 year high of $256.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.02 billion, a PE ratio of -101.08 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Key Natera News

Here are the key news stories impacting Natera this week:

• Negative Sentiment: CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold a total of 5,064 shares across Jan. 27–29 for roughly $1.19M (transactions at ~$240.53, $237.56 and $230.40); his holdings fell by ~3% but he still holds ~59k shares. CFO Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Steven L. Chapman sold 5,970 shares across Jan. 27–28 for roughly $1.43M (avg ~$237–240); his stake decreased ~1–2% and he still owns ~213k shares. CEO Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Other insiders (John Fesko and Solomon Moshkevich) also sold multiple tranches (combined ~3,925 shares, ~ $0.94M), each reducing holdings by under 1%. Fesko Form 4 Moshkevich Form 4

Institutional Trading of Natera

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,096,000. SWS Partners increased its stake in Natera by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. SWS Partners now owns 47,037 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,572,000 after purchasing an additional 4,980 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Natera by 192.5% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 8,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after purchasing an additional 5,614 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 277.8% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,498,000 after purchasing an additional 19,576 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 68.8% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 12,140 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 4,946 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised Natera to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Natera from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Natera from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Natera currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.20.

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.