Nektar Therapeutics’ (NKTR) Buy Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

BTIG Research reissued their buy rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $178.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

NKTR has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NKTR stock opened at $67.10 on Wednesday. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $33.40 and a 1-year high of $109.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.01 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.01.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.97) by $0.74. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 37.87% and a negative net margin of 287.84%.The firm had revenue of $10.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.43 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nektar Therapeutics will post -8.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 418 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total transaction of $30,087.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 54,627 shares in the company, valued at $3,932,051.46. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 5,681 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $397,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $682,920. This represents a 36.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 6,285 shares of company stock valued at $441,146 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nektar Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $52,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $67,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $209,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $234,000. Institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Company Profile

Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing medicines that harness the body’s immune system to treat cancer and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The company’s research is centered on cytokine biology, immune-cell regulation and its proprietary polymer-conjugation technologies, which are designed to modify therapeutic compounds and potentially improve their duration, delivery or tolerability.

Nektar’s pipeline has included investigational therapies such as rezpegaldesleukin, an immune-modulating treatment being studied for autoimmune and inflammatory conditions.