17,343 Shares in Natera, Inc. $NTRA Purchased by Leeward Financial Partners LLC

Key Points

• Leeward Financial Partners disclosed a new fourth-quarter position in Natera, buying 17,343 shares worth about $3.97 million.
• Insiders sold shares recently, including CEO Steven Leonard Chapman and insider John Fesko, with the sales tied to tax withholding from vesting equity awards.
• Analysts remain mostly bullish on Natera, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.60, while the stock traded around $203.11.

Leeward Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 17,343 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $3,973,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Natera during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Natera by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, AXS Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Natera during the third quarter worth about $69,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Fesko sold 1,688 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.10, for a total transaction of $344,520.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 187,511 shares in the company, valued at $38,270,995.10. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,838 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.14, for a total value of $1,191,769.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 150,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,777,983.66. This represents a 3.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,266 shares of company stock worth $7,747,808. 5.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. BTIG Research dropped their price target on Natera from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. William Blair assumed coverage on Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 target price on Natera in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $256.60.

Natera Trading Up 1.1%

NTRA stock opened at $203.11 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $29.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -124.61 and a beta of 1.57. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.81 and a 12-month high of $256.36. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $201.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.53.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. The business had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.68 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 9.05%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.41) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Natera

Natera is a global diagnostics company that develops and commercializes cell-free DNA and other genetic testing technologies for clinical applications. The company focuses on three principal areas: reproductive health (including non-invasive prenatal testing and carrier screening), oncology (tumor-informed assays for minimal residual disease and recurrence monitoring), and organ transplantation (cell-free DNA tests to detect allograft injury). Natera combines laboratory testing, proprietary bioinformatics, and clinical reporting to deliver personalized genetic information to clinicians and patients.

Key product offerings include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for fetal chromosomal abnormalities and select single-gene conditions; Horizon carrier screening for inherited conditions; Signatera, a personalized, tumor-informed assay used for detecting minimal residual disease and monitoring treatment response in cancer patients; and Prospera, a donor-derived cell-free DNA test used to assess the risk of organ rejection.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.