Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Director Sells $590,760.00 in Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.69, for a total transaction of $590,760.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,433,183.76. This trade represents a 29.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA opened at $148.22 on Monday. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $83.13 and a 12 month high of $183.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -84.22 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical research company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.01. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The business had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.91 million. Research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Natera by 2.1% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,353 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Natera by 34.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Natera during the third quarter worth $270,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Natera by 29.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 671,382 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $85,232,000 after acquiring an additional 153,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Natera by 4.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 315,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,058,000 after acquiring an additional 12,815 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on NTRA shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Natera from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Natera from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Natera from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.12.

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.