Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Receives $111.83 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $111.8333.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley boosted their target price on Nektar Therapeutics from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mark Andrew Wilson sold 630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.28, for a total value of $34,196.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,171,633.80. This represents a 2.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 2,207 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.28, for a total value of $119,795.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 54,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,944,418.60. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 3,994 shares of company stock worth $216,794 over the last quarter. 5.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nektar Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,301,734 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,961,000 after acquiring an additional 100,645 shares in the last quarter. Almitas Capital LLC lifted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 401.1% during the first quarter. Almitas Capital LLC now owns 4,610,872 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,135,000 after purchasing an additional 3,690,647 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 336.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,640,851 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,807,595 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased 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 valued at $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 380,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 30.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 948,647 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $53,978,000 after purchasing an additional 219,155 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Up 0.9%

NKTR stock opened at $42.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $859.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.31 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.31. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $6.45 and a 52 week high of $66.92.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $11.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.20 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 456.53% and a negative net margin of 192.87%. As a group, analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nektar Therapeutics Company Profile

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.