Insider Selling: Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Insider Sells 343 Shares of Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) insider John Fesko sold 343 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.55, for a total value of $49,923.65. Following the sale, the insider now owns 156,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,843,490.30. This represents a 0.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

John Fesko also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, February 6th, John Fesko sold 663 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.77, for a total value of $117,861.51.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA stock traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $153.79. The stock had a trading volume of 806,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,377,779. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.79 billion, a PE ratio of -87.38 and a beta of 1.80. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.20 and a twelve month high of $183.00.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.91 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NTRA. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Natera from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Natera from $200.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Natera from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $175.76.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in Natera by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,629 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in Natera by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,652 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Natera by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,417 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $766,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its stake in shares of Natera by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,963 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company's stock.

About Natera

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.