Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $60.35, but opened at $63.10. Nektar Therapeutics shares last traded at $60.67, with a volume of 102,870 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday, September 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nektar Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.33.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Up 4.4%

The stock has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.16 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $58.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.92.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.85) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.85) by $1.00. The business had revenue of $11.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.20 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 631.43% and a negative net margin of 163.17%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Nektar Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 6,666 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.69, for a total value of $311,235.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,303,777.98. The trade was a 11.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 1,721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.52, for a total transaction of $57,687.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $585,326.24. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 26,198 shares of company stock worth $1,076,491 over the last ninety days. 3.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 1.4% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,301,734 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,961,000 after acquiring an additional 100,645 shares during the last quarter. Almitas Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 401.1% in the 1st quarter. Almitas Capital LLC now owns 4,610,872 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,135,000 after purchasing an additional 3,690,647 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 336.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,640,851 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,807,595 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 14.5% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,007,928 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 380,967 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 253.1% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,658,745 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188,976 shares during the period. 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 2b clinical trial to treat atopic dermatitis and psoriasis; and NKTR-255, an IL-15 receptor agonist, which is in phase 1 clinical trial to boost the immune system's natural ability to fight cancer.