Steven Leonard Chapman Sells 5,838 Shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock

Key Points

• CEO sold 5,838 shares — Natera CEO Steven Leonard Chapman executed a Rule 10b5-1 sale on April 27 at an average price of $204.14 for about $1.19M to cover tax withholding from vested equity, leaving him with 150,769 shares (a 3.73% ownership decline).
• Earnings beat but fundamentals mixed — NTRA dipped 2.7% to $194.75; the company reported $0.35 EPS and $665.5M revenue (both above estimates) but still shows a negative net margin and negative ROE.
• Institutional involvement and analyst view — institutional investors own 99.90% of the stock with large recent stake increases from JPMorgan, Wellington and Coatue, and analysts have an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $253.47.

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,838 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.14, for a total transaction of $1,191,769.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 150,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,777,983.66. This represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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.

Steven Leonard Chapman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, March 10th, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,623 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $1,147,822.99.
• On Monday, March 2nd, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,950 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.02, for a total transaction of $790,079.00.
• On Tuesday, February 3rd, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,725 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.77, for a total transaction of $1,090,388.25.
• On Monday, February 2nd, Steven Leonard Chapman sold 85,299 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.72, for a total transaction of $19,680,185.28.

Natera Trading Down 2.7%

NTRA traded down $5.42 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $194.75. 963,644 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,219,699. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $131.81 and a one year high of $256.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.71 billion, a PE ratio of -127.29 and a beta of 1.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $202.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.80.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.41) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,944,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,420 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 94.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,976,325 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,140,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,420,263 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $545,624,000 after purchasing an additional 72,087 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,665,013 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $428,987,000 after purchasing an additional 727,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coatue Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 1,446.1% in the 4th quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 2,633,334 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $603,270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,463,008 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTRA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Natera from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $253.47.

Natera Company Profile

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.