Insider Selling: Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) CFO Sells $129,996.75 in Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CFO Michael Brophy sold 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $399.99, for a total transaction of $129,996.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 46,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,499,137.51. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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.

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

• On Tuesday, November 3rd, Michael Brophy sold 470 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.49, for a total transaction of $184,000.30.
• On Wednesday, October 28th, Michael Brophy sold 1,178 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.46, for a total value of $502,369.88.
• On Friday, October 30th, Michael Brophy sold 1,906 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.55, for a total value of $811,098.30.
• On Wednesday, October 28th, Michael Brophy sold 1,198 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $426.34, for a total transaction of $510,755.32.
• On Tuesday, October 27th, Michael Brophy sold 781 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.00, for a total value of $317,086.00.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA traded up $2.40 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $391.03. The stock had a trading volume of 2,799,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,672,252. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $380.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.64. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $181.00 and a twelve month high of $437.41.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.24 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 11.38% and a negative net margin of 7.11%. Natera’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.74) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in Natera in the second quarter worth $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Natera

Here are the key news stories impacting Natera this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Medicare coverage for Signatera in HCC could improve patient access and support adoption of Natera’s cancer-monitoring tests. The coverage milestone adds to the commercial opportunity for its oncology business. Natera Medicare coverage for Signatera in HCC
• Positive Sentiment: New ESMO oncology evidence was described as broadening the case for Natera’s cancer-testing portfolio, potentially reinforcing the longer-term growth story. ESMO data broaden Natera’s oncology case
• Neutral Sentiment: Natera was expected to report earnings on November 5, making results and management’s outlook a near-term catalyst; the preview article did not provide reported results. Natera earnings preview
• Neutral Sentiment: The reported analyst consensus price target was $394.31, close to the share price cited in the provided market background, suggesting limited implied upside from that target alone. Natera consensus target price
• Neutral Sentiment: CFO Michael Brophy sold 1,178 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and retained 48,480 shares. The scheduled nature and relatively small size of the sale may temper its significance as a signal about management’s outlook. CFO share sale report

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NTRA. Roth Capital started coverage on Natera in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 target price on the stock. Stephens raised their price objective on Natera from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $360.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Natera from $350.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $394.31.

About Natera

Natera, Inc is a diagnostics company that develops and commercializes molecular testing services designed to provide personalized genetic and genomic information. Its tests are used across reproductive health, oncology and organ transplantation, with the company combining next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics to analyze DNA and monitor disease-related signals.

In reproductive health, Natera offers Panorama noninvasive prenatal screening, Horizon carrier screening and Vistara single-gene disorder screening.