Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) has received an average rating of “Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, Market Beat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.00.
A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NKTR shares. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Jaffray reduced their price objective on Nektar Therapeutics from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 2nd. William Blair reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 12th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 19th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research raised Nektar Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 4th.
Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) traded down 1.54% on Wednesday, reaching $12.77. The company had a trading volume of 434,947 shares. The firm’s market capitalization is $1.70 billion. Nektar Therapeutics has a one year low of $9.16 and a one year high of $17.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $11.84 and its 200-day moving average is $13.15.
In other Nektar Therapeutics news, SVP Gil M. Labrucherie sold 11,667 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.12, for a total value of $164,738.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,251 shares in the company, valued at $74,144.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 2,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.92, for a total transaction of $25,592.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,657.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
Other institutional investors have added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Asset Management raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 99.0% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management now owns 1,160,312 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,716,000 after buying an additional 577,361 shares during the last quarter. Janus Capital Management raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 26.8% in the third quarter. Janus Capital Management now owns 2,296,548 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,170,000 after buying an additional 484,844 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 67,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Street Advisors raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors now owns 121,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,044,000 after buying an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter.
Nektar Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. The Company is engaged in the development of a pipeline of drug candidates that utilize its PEGylation and advanced polymer conjugate technology platforms, which are designed to enable the development of new molecular entities that target known mechanisms of action.
