Insider Selling: Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Director Sells 9,682 Shares of Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 9,682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.98, for a total transaction of $1,548,926.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,552,445.92. The trade was a 49.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Gail Boxer Marcus also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, November 14th, Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total transaction of $350,668.36.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA stock traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $169.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,106,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,346,857. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $129.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.00. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.62 and a 1 year high of $171.95. The stock has a market cap of $22.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -96.23 and a beta of 1.53.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative return on equity of 26.23% and a negative net margin of 14.01%. The firm had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.95) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.66 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,044,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,010,152,000 after purchasing an additional 72,848 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 1st quarter valued at $220,000. Natixis bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 1st quarter valued at $758,000. Magnetar Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Natera by 52.5% during the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 176,643 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $16,156,000 after purchasing an additional 60,814 shares during the period. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 1st quarter valued at $2,821,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NTRA. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $121.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.59.

Natera Company Profile

Natera, Inc, a diagnostics company, develops and commercializes molecular testing services worldwide. Its products include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for chromosomal abnormalities of a fetus, as well as in twin pregnancies; Horizon carrier screening test for individuals and couples determine if they are carriers of genetic variations that cause certain genetic conditions; Vistara single-gene NIPT screens for 25 single-gene disorders that cause severe skeletal, cardiac, and neurological conditions; Spectrum, preimplantation genetic tests for couples undergoing IVF; Anora that analyzes miscarriage tissue from women; Empower, a hereditary cancer screening test; and non-invasive prenatal paternity product, which allows a couple to establish paternity without waiting for the child to be born.