Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Price Target Raised to $257.00 at Robert W. Baird

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its price objective raised by Robert W. Baird from $239.00 to $257.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. Evercore upped their target price on Natera from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Natera from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.47.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA stock opened at $208.04 on Friday. Natera has a fifty-two week low of $125.38 and a fifty-two week high of $256.36. The company has a market capitalization of $28.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.97 and a beta of 1.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $226.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $203.54.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. The business 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 16.71% and a negative net margin of 9.03%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.41) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, insider John Fesko sold 17,806 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.74, for a total transaction of $4,179,780.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 177,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,687,711.34. This trade represents a 9.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 23,205 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.74, for a total value of $5,447,141.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 144,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,035,422.08. This represents a 13.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 368,119 shares of company stock valued at $85,956,782 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Natera by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,944,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,420 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Natera by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,676,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,141,594,000 after acquiring an additional 282,826 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in 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 worth $1,140,026,000 after acquiring an additional 2,420,263 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 72,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Natera by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,665,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $428,987,000 after purchasing an additional 727,366 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Natera

Here are the key news stories impacting Natera this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly beat — Natera reported Q4 revenue of $665.5M and GAAP EPS of $0.35, well ahead of street estimates (revenue ~$600.7M, EPS loss consensus). The beat supports near-term growth expectations and underpins the stock’s recent strength. Natera Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Favorable clinical data — New Signatera MRD data presented at ASCO GU highlight potential utility across genitourinary cancers (including bladder preservation), which may expand clinical adoption and long-term revenue for Natera’s oncology franchise. Signatera MRD Data at ASCO GU
• Positive Sentiment: Trial results — Natera reported results from the SINERGY trial, another clinical datapoint that could support commercial adoption of its assays. Natera Announces Results From the SINERGY Trial
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/targets — Robert W. Baird raised its price target to $257 (outperform) and Wells Fargo raised its target to $215 (equal weight), signaling some sell-side confidence in upside from current levels. Benzinga – Analyst Price Target Changes
• Neutral Sentiment: Full-year revenue guidance roughly in line with consensus — Management issued FY2026 revenue guidance (roughly $2.6B–$2.7B), which appears consistent with street expectations and reduces upside surprise potential from guidance alone. (See Q4 release for guidance details.) Natera Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst consensus — Aggregated analyst coverage remains constructive (average “Moderate Buy”), which supports medium-term expectations but doesn’t preclude short-term volatility. Analyst Average Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and fundamentals concerns — Despite the beat, Natera still shows negative net margin and negative return on equity on a GAAP basis; combined with a high market capitalization and a recent run-up toward 52-week highs, investors may be taking profits. MarketBeat Q4 Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy intraday volume and selling pressure — Trading volume was well above average, consistent with a distribution day where some holders trimmed positions after the company’s strong quarter; that drove the stock lower despite the positives. (See intraday volume and price action for context.)

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.