Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Insider Solomon Moshkevich Sells 1,652 Shares

Key Points

• Insider sale: Natera insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,652 shares at an average price of $202.84, worth about $335,092. The transaction was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and was intended to cover tax withholding from vested equity awards.
• Recent trading activity: This sale follows several other recent insider sales by Moshkevich over the past few months, including transactions in March and May. After the latest sale, he still held 140,643 shares valued at roughly $28.5 million.
• Stock and analyst backdrop: Natera shares rose 5.3% to $213.94, and analysts currently have a Moderate Buy consensus with a $256.60 average target price. The company recently beat earnings and revenue estimates, though it still posted a loss for the quarter.

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,652 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.84, for a total value of $335,091.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 140,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,528,026.12. The trade was a 1.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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.

Solomon Moshkevich also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 1st, Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total value of $693,564.45.
• On Monday, April 27th, Solomon Moshkevich sold 2,182 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.10, for a total value of $445,346.20.
• On Wednesday, April 1st, Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.30, for a total value of $606,900.00.
• On Tuesday, March 10th, Solomon Moshkevich sold 915 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total value of $186,778.95.
• On Monday, March 2nd, Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.85, for a total value of $599,550.00.

Natera Stock Up 5.3%

Shares of NTRA traded up $10.83 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $213.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,861,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,650,189. The company has a market cap of $30.64 billion, a PE ratio of -131.25 and a beta of 1.57. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $201.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.63. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.81 and a fifty-two week high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. The company had revenue of $665.50 million during 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 earned ($0.41) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NTRA shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $249.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. BTIG Research reduced their price objective on Natera from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $256.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTRA. Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 244 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 20.0% in the 4th 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. Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 982 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company's stock.

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.

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