Nektar Therapeutics’ (NKTR) Buy Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $6.50 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. B. Riley began coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $4.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nektar Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $4.92.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Up 10.0 %

Shares of NKTR opened at $0.90 on Thursday. Nektar Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $0.65 and a 12-month high of $1.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.42 million, a PE ratio of -1.07 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $0.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.08.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.33. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 173.28% and a negative net margin of 180.70%. The business had revenue of $29.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.65 million. Analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 51,115 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 326,904 shares in the company, valued at $307,289.76. This represents a 13.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 46,995 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.01, for a total value of $47,464.95. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 165,586 shares of company stock worth $159,990 over the last ninety days. 3.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 9,958 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 192,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 10,941 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 107,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 11,681 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 12,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 14,895 shares in 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.