Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Director Sells $350,668.36 in Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total transaction of $350,668.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,386 shares in the company, valued at $3,073,262.58. This trade represents a 10.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $146.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a PE ratio of -82.99 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a current ratio of 4.39. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.01 and a 52-week high of $167.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.46.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The company had revenue of $439.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.95) EPS. Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 63.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.96 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Natera by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,044,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,010,152,000 after acquiring an additional 72,848 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Natera by 13.6% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,460,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $483,034,000 after acquiring an additional 532,874 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Natera by 205.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,800,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,481 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 3.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,482,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $315,194,000 after buying an additional 85,236 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Natera by 7.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,090,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $265,747,000 after purchasing an additional 143,825 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NTRA. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Natera from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their price target on Natera from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.65.

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.