Citigroup Inc. Trims Stock Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Citigroup Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 45.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 88,732 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 73,833 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Natera were worth $14,283,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,676,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,141,594,000 after buying an additional 282,826 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Natera by 7.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,552,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $430,640,000 after acquiring an additional 166,768 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Natera by 20.6% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,937,647 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $327,346,000 after acquiring an additional 330,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Natera by 44.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,750 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $291,717,000 after acquiring an additional 532,769 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natera Trading Down 3.7%

NTRA stock opened at $208.04 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.38 and a 12-month high of $256.36. The business’s 50-day moving average is $226.52 and its 200 day moving average is $203.54. The stock has a market cap of $28.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.97 and a beta of 1.64.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. The business had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 business posted ($0.41) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NTRA shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup initiated coverage on Natera in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

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