William Blair Reaffirms “Market Perform” Rating for Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at William Blair in a research note issued on Tuesday,RTT News reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on NKTR. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler began coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $4.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4.08.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Up 7.6 %

NKTR stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $0.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,521,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,399,573. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $0.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.11. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.65 and a 1 year high of $1.93. The stock has a market cap of $167.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.08 and a beta of 0.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 51,115 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.94, for a total value of $48,048.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 326,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $307,289.76. This trade represents a 13.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mark Andrew Wilson sold 33,402 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.90, for a total value of $30,061.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 351,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $316,702.80. The trade was a 8.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 165,586 shares of company stock valued at $159,990. Corporate insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nektar Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Two Sigma Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 27,654 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 9,958 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 192,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 10,941 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 107,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 11,681 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,414,984 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 12,826 shares during the period. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 42.4% in the 4th quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 14,895 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

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.