Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Earns “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $6.50 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $4.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $4.70.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NKTR opened at $0.82 on Thursday. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.65 and a 52-week high of $1.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.98 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $0.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.08.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 17th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.33. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 180.70% and a negative return on equity of 173.28%. Analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nektar Therapeutics

In other news, insider Mark Andrew Wilson sold 33,402 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.90, for a total transaction of $30,061.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 351,892 shares in the company, valued at $316,702.80. This represents a 8.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 46,995 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.01, for a total transaction of $47,464.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,195,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,207,667.10. This represents a 3.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 165,586 shares of company stock worth $159,990. 3.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nektar Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Two Sigma Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 27,654 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 9,958 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Services LLC purchased a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. US Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Valence8 US LP acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.