Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Given “Market Perform” Rating at William Blair

William Blair reissued their market perform rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) in a report published on Thursday,RTT News reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $4.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $6.50 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $4.92.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:NKTR opened at $0.90 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $0.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.08. The stock has a market cap of $165.42 million, a P/E ratio of -1.07 and a beta of 0.65. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.65 and a 1-year high of $1.93.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.33. The company had revenue of $29.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.65 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 180.70% and a negative return on equity of 173.28%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nektar Therapeutics

In related news, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 51,115 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.94, for a total transaction of $48,048.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 326,904 shares in the company, valued at $307,289.76. This trade represents a 13.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.01, for a total transaction of $47,464.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,195,710 shares in the company, valued at $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 90 days, insiders have sold 165,586 shares of company stock worth $159,990. 3.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 801.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 469,769 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 417,651 shares during the period. US Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 187.3% during the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 4,974,512 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,626,000 after acquiring an additional 3,242,841 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $130,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,537,355 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after acquiring an additional 174,185 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.