Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Insider John Fesko Sells 295 Shares of Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) insider John Fesko sold 295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.99, for a total value of $79,057.05. Following the sale, the insider owned 183,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,249,594.26. The trade was a 0.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 Tuesday, July 28th, John Fesko sold 931 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.07, for a total value 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.
• On Tuesday, May 26th, John Fesko sold 1,438 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.84, for a total transaction of $291,683.92.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA stock opened at $274.58 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $251.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.85. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.75 and a 52 week high of $288.04. The stock has a market cap of $39.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -168.45 and a beta of 1.51.

Institutional Trading of Natera

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Natera by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 244 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 5.5% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp raised its position in shares of Natera by 5.5% during the first quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 982 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Natera

Here are the key news stories impacting Natera this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Natera filed with Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) for approval of its Signatera test for bladder cancer. Approval would expand the addressable market for the company’s molecular residual disease testing and could support additional international revenue growth. Natera Files for Japan PMDA Approval of Signatera Test in Bladder Cancer
• Neutral Sentiment: Natera reported sales by CEO Steven Leonard Chapman, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy, and executives Solomon Moshkevich and John Fesko totaling approximately 7,576 shares and $2.02 million. Each sale was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and was made to cover tax withholding obligations from vested equity awards. The executives retained substantial positions, reducing the significance of the transactions as a signal of weakening confidence.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NTRA. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group set a $260.00 target price on Natera in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on Natera from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.83.

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.