Nektar Therapeutics’ (NKTR) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at BTIG Research

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at BTIG Research in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $178.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. BTIG Research’s target price suggests a potential upside of 332.35% from the stock’s previous close.

NKTR has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Nektar Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 28th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NKTR traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.17. 1,087,104 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,103,956. Nektar Therapeutics has a one year low of $33.40 and a one year high of $109.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.12. The company has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of -6.14 and a beta of 1.26.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.97) by $0.74. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 287.84% and a negative return on equity of 37.87%. The business had revenue of $10.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.43 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, CEO Howard Robin sold 418 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total transaction of $30,087.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 54,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,932,051.46. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Two Seas Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 8.2% in the third quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 3,345,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $202,582,000 after purchasing an additional 253,744 shares in the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL boosted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 1,559,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $65,940,000 after buying an additional 283,000 shares during the period. Braidwell LP grew its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 112.7% in the 2nd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 473,617 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,063,000 after buying an additional 250,916 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 394,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $28,392,000 after acquiring an additional 10,262 shares during the period. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 122.4% during the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 596,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,199,000 after acquiring an additional 328,000 shares in the last quarter. 75.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nektar Therapeutics Company Profile

Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing medicines that use the body’s immune system to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company’s research programs are based on proprietary drug-design and immunology technologies intended to improve the activity, targeting, or dosing of therapeutic agents.

Nektar’s pipeline has included NKTR-255, an investigational interleukin-15 receptor agonist designed to activate natural killer cells and support antitumor immune responses.