Nkarta’s (NKTX) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $15.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright lowered their target price on Nkarta from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $16.00 price objective (up from $13.00) on shares of Nkarta in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Nkarta from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Nkarta from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $17.83.

Nkarta Price Performance

NASDAQ:NKTX opened at $8.06 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $398.29 million, a PE ratio of -3.36 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.46. Nkarta has a 1-year low of $1.28 and a 1-year high of $16.24.

Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The company reported ($0.57) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.05. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nkarta will post -2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Paul J. Hastings sold 9,697 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.74, for a total transaction of $84,751.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 390,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,413,031.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Simeon George acquired 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.00 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,548,341 shares in the company, valued at $15,483,410. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Paul J. Hastings sold 9,697 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.74, for a total value of $84,751.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 390,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,413,031.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,392 shares of company stock valued at $165,512. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nkarta

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in Nkarta in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Natixis acquired a new position in shares of Nkarta in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nkarta by 13,661.1% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 4,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 4,918 shares during the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nkarta during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Nkarta by 59.9% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 21,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 8,177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.54% of the company’s stock.

Nkarta Company Profile

Nkarta, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes natural killer cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune disease treatment. The company's lead product candidate is NKX019, a chimeric antigen receptor-natural killer (CAR NK) targeting the CD19 antigen that is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of relapsed/refractory (r/r) non-hodgkin lymphoma, as well as for lupus nephritis.