Steven Leonard Chapman Sells 71,932 Shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 71,932 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.74, for a total value of $16,885,317.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 217,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,021,677.96. This represents a 24.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• On Wednesday, January 21st, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 1,590 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $373,650.00.
• On Friday, January 2nd, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,848 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.08, for a total value 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.
• On Monday, November 3rd, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 160,703 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.96, for a total transaction of $32,134,171.88.
• On Tuesday, October 28th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,680 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.46, for a total transaction of $704,572.80.
• On Monday, October 27th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 2,335 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.32, for a total transaction of $449,067.20.

Natera Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:NTRA traded up $0.13 on Thursday, hitting $242.91. The stock had a trading volume of 971,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 950,311. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $233.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $190.60. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.38 and a 1-year high of $256.36. The stock has a market cap of $33.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -106.07 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) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by ($0.25). Natera had a negative net margin of 14.61% and a negative return on equity of 25.07%. The firm had revenue of $592.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $514.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.26) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Natera by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,676,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,141,594,000 after purchasing an additional 282,826 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Natera by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,628,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,871,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,129 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Natera by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,624,000 after purchasing an additional 72,087 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Natera by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,665,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $428,987,000 after acquiring an additional 727,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Natera by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,552,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $430,640,000 after acquiring an additional 166,768 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.50.

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.