John Fesko Sells 17,806 Shares of Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock

Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) insider John Fesko sold 17,806 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 177,591 shares in the company, valued at $41,687,711.34. This trade represents a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

John Fesko also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, January 21st, John Fesko sold 339 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $79,665.00.
• On Tuesday, October 28th, John Fesko sold 928 shares of Natera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.46, for a total value of $177,674.88.
• On Monday, October 27th, John Fesko sold 781 shares of Natera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.32, for a total value of $150,201.92.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $241.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $33.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -105.49 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $234.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.17. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.38 and a 52-week high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $592.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $514.55 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 25.07% and a negative net margin of 14.61%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.26) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Natera

Here are the key news stories impacting Natera this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Peer‑reviewed clinical validation: Natera published clinical validation of its Latitude™ tissue‑free MRD test in colorectal cancer, boosting the credibility of a higher‑value oncology product that could support future revenue and reimbursement expansion. Clinical validation article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Multiple sell‑side firms have raised price targets and the consensus remains a “Moderate Buy” with an implied target around the mid‑$200s, providing medium‑term bullish backing for the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Fund positioning note: A Voya MidCap Opportunities investor letter and related coverage highlight that lack of exposure to Natera hurt that fund’s Q4 performance — a sign NTRA was a notable outperformer for some mid‑cap portfolios but not a direct company catalyst. Voya fund note
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed fundamentals & ownership: Recent quarter showed strong revenue growth (~35% YoY) but continued GAAP losses; institutional ownership is extremely high (~99.9%), which reduces free float and can both support and cap volatility depending on flows.
• Negative Sentiment: Clustered insider selling — material: CEO Steven Chapman, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy and other insiders executed large sales on Jan. 20–21 (CEO sale ~71.9k shares; CFO sales totaling ~61k+ shares across days), representing sizable reductions in holdings and increasing perceived near‑term supply pressure. CEO Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Additional insider sales: Multiple smaller insider transactions (e.g., Solomon Moshkevich) were also reported, reinforcing the market perception of insider liquidity taking and adding downward pressure. InsiderTrades coverage

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Natera from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Natera from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Natera from $218.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.50.

Institutional Trading of Natera

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 282,826 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Natera by 9.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,628,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,871,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,129 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Natera by 2.2% during 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 holdings in 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 period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Natera by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,552,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $430,640,000 after purchasing an additional 166,768 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.