Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $3.50.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NKTR. Rodman & Renshaw began coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $2.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $0.50 to $1.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 16,650 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.75, for a total value of $29,137.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 863,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,510,668.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Nektar Therapeutics news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 16,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.75, for a total transaction of $29,137.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 863,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,510,668.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Deep Track Capital, Lp sold 56,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.78, for a total transaction of $99,680.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,344,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,652,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 99,505 shares of company stock worth $165,089 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nektar Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKTR. RA Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $11,138,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 185.5% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 5,255,790 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,970,000 after buying an additional 3,414,712 shares during the last quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM grew its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 5,973,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,786 shares during the last quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 911,204 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 189,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 300.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 229,841 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 172,509 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NKTR opened at $1.18 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $1.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $0.99. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $0.41 and a 52 week high of $1.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.14 million, a P/E ratio of -1.24 and a beta of 0.71.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $21.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.91 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 195.02% and a negative return on equity of 107.31%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.84 EPS for the current year.

Nektar Therapeutics Company Profile

Nektar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing medicines in the field of immunotherapy in the United States and internationally. The company is developing rezpegaldesleukin, a cytokine Treg stimulant that is in phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus and ulcerative colitis, as well as phase 2b clinical trial to treat atopic dermatitis and psoriasis; and NKTR-255, an IL-15 receptor agonist, which is in phase 1 clinical trial to boost the immune system's natural ability to fight cancer.