Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Earns Market Perform Rating from William Blair

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $4.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6.50 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nektar Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $4.70.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $0.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 594,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,848,774. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.65 and a 1-year high of $1.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.02 million, a P/E ratio of -0.99 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.08.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. The business had revenue of $29.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.65 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Nektar Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 46,995 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.01, for a total value of $47,464.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,195,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,207,667.10. This trade represents a 3.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 51,115 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.94, for a total transaction of $48,048.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 326,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $307,289.76. This represents a 13.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 165,586 shares of company stock valued at $159,990. Corporate insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NKTR. Two Sigma Securities LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 9,958 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 192,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 10,941 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 107,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 11,681 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,414,984 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 12,826 shares during the period. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 14,895 shares during the last quarter. 75.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.