Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Sells $19,680,185.28 in Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 85,299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.72, for a total transaction of $19,680,185.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 127,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,504,704.32. This trade represents a 40.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Steven Leonard Chapman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 3rd, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,725 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.77, for a total transaction of $1,090,388.25.
• On Wednesday, January 28th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,648 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.66, for a total value of $866,983.68.
• On Tuesday, January 27th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 2,322 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.53, for a total transaction of $558,510.66.
• On Wednesday, January 21st, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 1,590 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total transaction of $373,650.00.
• On Tuesday, January 20th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 71,932 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.74, for a total transaction of $16,885,317.68.
• On Friday, January 2nd, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,848 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.08, for a total transaction of $881,499.84.
• On Monday, December 1st, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,400 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.07, for a total value of $1,047,508.00.

Natera Price Performance

NTRA traded down $22.07 on Wednesday, reaching $205.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,452,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,059,726. The stock has a market cap of $28.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -89.79 and a beta of 1.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $234.95 and its 200 day moving average is $195.74. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.38 and a 1 year high of $256.36.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Natera by 44.3% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,625,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,795,125,000 after buying an additional 3,263,822 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Natera in the second quarter valued at about $277,749,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Natera by 37.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,665,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $428,987,000 after buying an additional 727,366 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 39.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,400,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $386,338,000 after purchasing an additional 673,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Natera by 215.7% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 527,942 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $84,983,000 after purchasing an additional 360,733 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price target 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. Zacks Research upgraded Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.