Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Rodman & Renshaw

Analysts at Rodman & Renshaw started coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $2.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Rodman & Renshaw’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 75.44% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Nektar Therapeutics from $0.50 to $1.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.00.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

NKTR opened at $1.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $0.99. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.41 and a 1 year high of $1.93. The firm has a market cap of $209.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.24 and a beta of 0.71.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Deep Track Capital, Lp sold 56,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.78, for a total transaction of $99,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,344,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,652,320. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 16,650 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.75, for a total transaction of $29,137.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 863,239 shares in the company, valued at $1,510,668.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Deep Track Capital, Lp sold 56,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.78, for a total value of $99,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 sold a total of 99,505 shares of company stock worth $165,089 in the last quarter. 3.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NKTR. RA Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,138,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 185.5% during the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 5,255,790 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,970,000 after acquiring an additional 3,414,712 shares in the last quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM boosted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 5,973,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,786 shares in the last quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC boosted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 911,204 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $515,000 after acquiring an additional 189,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 300.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 229,841 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 172,509 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

About Nektar Therapeutics

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.