Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Insider John Fesko Sells 6,517 Shares

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) insider John Fesko sold 6,517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.53, for a total transaction of $2,095,411.01. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 197,257 shares in the company, valued at $63,424,043.21. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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.

John Fesko also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 3rd, John Fesko sold 295 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.99, for a total transaction of $79,057.05.
• On Tuesday, July 28th, John Fesko sold 931 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.07, for a total transaction of $236,539.17.
• On Monday, July 27th, John Fesko sold 782 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.49, for a total value of $203,703.18.

Natera Stock Down 3.7%

Shares of Natera stock opened at $326.26 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $157.43 and a fifty-two week high of $343.18. The firm has a market cap of $47.03 billion, a PE ratio of -239.90 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $285.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.61.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $752.75 million for 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%.The business’s revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.74) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Natera in the second quarter valued at about $2,962,770,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the second quarter worth about $5,117,000. Abbot Financial Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the second quarter worth about $1,537,000. Eagle Health Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the second quarter worth about $4,302,000. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Natera by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 438,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $100,538,000 after buying an additional 71,355 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, July 17th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Natera from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Natera from $315.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.38.

About Natera

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.