Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Research Coverage Started at Citigroup

Citigroup started coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) in a research report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $102.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on NKTR. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up from $99.00) on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.33.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:NKTR opened at $63.98 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $58.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.72. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $6.45 and a 1-year high of $66.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.27 and a beta of 1.19.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.85) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.85) by $1.00. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 163.17% and a negative return on equity of 631.43%. The firm had revenue of $11.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.20 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nektar Therapeutics

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, insider Mark Andrew Wilson sold 630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.28, for a total value of $34,196.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 21,585 shares in the company, valued at $1,171,633.80. The trade was a 2.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 1,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.52, for a total value of $57,687.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,462 shares in the company, valued at $585,326.24. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 26,198 shares of company stock worth $1,076,491. Corporate insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NKTR. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,301,734 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,961,000 after purchasing an additional 100,645 shares in the last quarter. Gainplan LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $388,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $222,000. Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $344,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 14.5% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,007,928 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 380,967 shares in the last quarter. 75.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.