Insider Selling: Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) Insider Sells 80,000 Shares of Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 80,000 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $7,265,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,676,799.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Natera Price Performance

NTRA traded up $0.01 on Wednesday, hitting $90.33. 694,054 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,470,209. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.90 and a fifty-two week high of $98.82. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 3.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $85.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.41. The stock has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.83 and a beta of 1.37.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.73) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $311.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $300.38 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 40.16% and a negative return on equity of 62.19%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NTRA shares. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $117.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of Natera from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Natera from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.40.

Institutional Trading of Natera

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NTRA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Natera by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,971,895 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $687,280,000 after purchasing an additional 588,147 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,556,792 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $334,388,000 after buying an additional 67,102 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Natera by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,409,372 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $120,828,000 after purchasing an additional 577,106 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Natera by 55.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,072,466 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $149,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kynam Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Natera by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kynam Capital Management LP now owns 3,003,668 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $132,912,000 after buying an additional 103,668 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.