JPMorgan Chase & Co. Initiates Coverage on Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) in a research note issued on Friday. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target points to a potential downside of 13.91% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wedbush dropped their target price on Nektar Therapeutics from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $105.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ NKTR traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $75.50. The company had a trading volume of 61,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,028,910. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $69.34 and its 200 day moving average is $70.33. Nektar Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $26.45 and a fifty-two week high of $109.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.27 and a beta of 1.14.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.97) by $0.74. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 37.87% and a negative net margin of 287.84%.The company had revenue of $10.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.43 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -8.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total transaction of $603,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,045 shares in the company, valued at $3,923,514.40. This trade represents a 13.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 5,681 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $397,670.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,756 shares in the company, valued at $682,920. This represents a 36.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,823 shares of company stock worth $1,380,558. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nektar Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 93.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 434 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV bought a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $52,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $67,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $65,000. Institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

About Nektar Therapeutics

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing novel drug candidates through its proprietary chemistry and immunology platforms. The company focuses on polymer conjugate technology, which enables the creation of longer-acting versions of existing drugs, and on T-cell modulatory therapies aimed at harnessing the body’s immune system to treat cancer and other serious diseases.

Nektar’s product portfolio and pipeline include a range of clinical-stage and partnered programs.