American Century Companies Inc. Buys 238,679 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 39.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 843,427 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 238,679 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.61% of Natera worth $135,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Natera by 44.3% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,625,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,795,125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,263,822 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at $277,749,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 44.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,750 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $291,717,000 after purchasing an additional 532,769 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 20.6% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,937,647 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,346,000 after purchasing an additional 330,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 118.3% during the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 572,832 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $96,774,000 after purchasing an additional 310,452 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $208.04 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $28.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -135.97 and a beta of 1.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $226.52 and its 200 day moving average is $204.17. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $125.38 and a one year high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly 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. Natera had a negative return on equity of 16.71% and a negative net margin of 9.03%.The business had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $600.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.41) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Fesko sold 17,806 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.74, for a total value of $4,179,780.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 177,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,687,711.34. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 85,299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.72, for a total transaction of $19,680,185.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 127,881 shares in the company, valued at $29,504,704.32. The trade was a 40.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 360,719 shares of company stock valued at $84,194,824. Insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

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.)

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on NTRA. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Natera from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, January 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $254.47.

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.