Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Given Buy Rating at BTIG Research

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at BTIG Research in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $178.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. BTIG Research’s price objective points to a potential upside of 332.35% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on NKTR. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price target on Nektar Therapeutics from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nektar Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Up 0.9%

Nektar Therapeutics stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.17. 1,174,735 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,103,956. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of -6.14 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.12. Nektar Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $33.40 and a 12-month high of $109.00.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.97) by $0.74. The company had revenue of $10.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.43 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 37.87% and a negative net margin of 287.84%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nektar Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Howard Robin sold 418 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total transaction of $30,087.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 54,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,932,051.46. This trade represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NKTR. Armistice Capital LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 328,000 shares during the period. Sofinnova Investments Inc. increased its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 270.4% during the fourth quarter. Sofinnova Investments Inc. now owns 438,630 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $18,545,000 after buying an additional 320,211 shares during the period. BVF Inc. IL increased its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 22.2% during the fourth 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. Orbimed Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $19,786,000. Finally, Two Seas Capital LP increased its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 8.2% during the third quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 3,345,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $202,582,000 after buying an additional 253,744 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

About Nektar Therapeutics

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.