Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Stock Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average of $0.65

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $0.65 and traded as high as $1.70. Nektar Therapeutics shares last traded at $1.57, with a volume of 2,847,014 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on NKTR shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $0.50 to $1.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, January 26th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $288.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.08 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $0.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $0.65.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $23.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.09 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 96.80% and a negative net margin of 306.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.32) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Nektar Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKTR. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 185.5% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 5,255,790 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,970,000 after purchasing an additional 3,414,712 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 147.1% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 567,902 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 338,061 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 426,119 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 66,194 shares in the last quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM grew its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 5,973,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,093,926 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 19,877 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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 1B clinical trial to treat atopic dermatitis and psoriasis; and NKTR-255, an IL-15 receptor agonist, which is in phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma, and head and neck cancer squamous cell carcinoma and colorectal cancer.