Howard Robin Sells 6,666 Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Stock

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) CEO Howard Robin sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.53, for a total transaction of $256,840.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 56,008 shares in the company, valued at $2,157,988.24. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NKTR opened at $48.57 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.81. The company has a market capitalization of $923.80 million, a P/E ratio of -5.52 and a beta of 1.06. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $6.45 and a 1-year high of $48.85.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($2.95) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.13) by $0.18. The business had revenue of $11.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.42 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 163.17% and a negative return on equity of 631.43%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NKTR. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 108,975 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 22,822 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 192,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 10,941 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 200.3% in the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 181,679 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 121,187 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,414,984 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,316,000 after buying an additional 12,826 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 373,948 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 92,346 shares during the period. 75.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NKTR. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $60.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $60.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.33.

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.