Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $205.00 to $215.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 3.35% from the company’s previous close.

NTRA has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Natera from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Natera from $239.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Natera from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Natera from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. One 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $254.47.

Natera Price Performance

Natera stock opened at $208.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.78 billion, a PE ratio of -135.97 and a beta of 1.64. Natera has a 12 month low of $125.38 and a 12 month high of $256.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $203.85.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative return on equity of 16.71% and a negative net margin of 9.03%.The firm had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.68 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.41) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Natera will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Fesko sold 3,594 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.02, for a total transaction of $830,285.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 178,081 shares in the company, valued at $41,140,272.62. The trade was a 1.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 6,939 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.83, for a total transaction of $1,580,912.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 52,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,874,499.60. This represents a 11.75% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 368,119 shares of company stock worth $85,956,782 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natera

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTRA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Natera by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,628,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,871,914,000 after buying an additional 1,003,129 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,096,000. SWS Partners raised its position in shares of Natera by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. SWS Partners now owns 47,037 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,572,000 after acquiring an additional 4,980 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Natera by 63.2% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 148,247 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $23,863,000 after purchasing an additional 57,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in Natera by 192.5% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 8,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,373,000 after purchasing an additional 5,614 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is 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.)

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.