US Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 33,484 Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

US Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 33,484 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 197.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 913,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 606,057 shares during the period. Peapod Lane Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,030,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 522,409 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 49,319 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 108,975 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 22,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 50.6% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 94,152 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 31,654 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Up 4.3%

Shares of NKTR opened at $0.66 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $0.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $0.87. Nektar Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $0.43 and a twelve month high of $1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.83 million, a PE ratio of -0.79 and a beta of 0.62.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.04). Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 180.70% and a negative return on equity of 173.28%. The business had revenue of $10.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on NKTR. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, May 12th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $6.50 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Oppenheimer raised Nektar Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $1.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4.50.

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.