Rowan Chapman Sells 4,366 Shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Director Rowan Chapman sold 4,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.10, for a total value of $1,061,374.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,404,388.70. This trade represents a 43.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $233.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.25 billion, a PE ratio of -101.80 and a beta of 1.63. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.38 and a 52 week high of $246.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $204.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.57.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by ($0.25). Natera had a negative return on equity of 25.07% and a negative net margin of 14.61%.The firm had revenue of $592.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.26) earnings per share. Natera’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Natera by 42.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,206 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 1st quarter worth $243,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 905,676 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $128,072,000 after buying an additional 38,180 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Natera by 185.8% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 246,482 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,855,000 after buying an additional 160,243 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Natera by 224.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 141,641 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $20,029,000 after buying an additional 98,015 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $268.00 price objective on shares of Natera and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Natera from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $172.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded Natera to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Natera from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.29.

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.