Key Points
- Insider sale: Natera insider John Fesko sold 1,438 shares at an average price of $202.84, totaling about $291,684. The trade was made under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan and was disclosed as covering tax withholding tied to equity award vesting.
- Recent insider activity: This latest sale follows several other recent Natera share sales by Fesko in April and May, indicating a pattern of insider selling over the past few months.
- Stock and analyst backdrop: Natera shares were up 5.3% and opened at $213.94, while Wall Street maintains a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $256.60. The company also recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations.
Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) insider John Fesko sold 1,438 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.84, for a total transaction of $291,683.92. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 185,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,684,020.88. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 Friday, May 1st, John Fesko sold 291 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.16, for a total transaction of $59,992.56.
- On Monday, April 27th, John Fesko sold 1,688 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.10, for a total transaction of $344,520.80.
- On Tuesday, March 10th, John Fesko sold 707 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $144,319.91.
Natera Stock Up 5.3%
Shares of NTRA opened at $213.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -131.25 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $215.63. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.81 and a twelve month high of $256.36.
Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.05% and a negative return on equity of 14.74%. The business had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $600.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.41) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
NTRA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair initiated coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 target price on Natera in a report on Friday, May 8th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $256.60.
View Our Latest Report on NTRA
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Natera by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 244 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in Natera by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Natera by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Natera by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp lifted its position in Natera by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 982 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $196,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Natera
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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