Piper Sandler Begins Coverage on Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Research analysts at Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $7.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price suggests a potential upside of 400.00% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nektar Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NKTR opened at $1.40 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $257.71 million, a PE ratio of -1.56 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.34. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.41 and a 1 year high of $1.93.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $23.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.24 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 133.64% and a negative net margin of 190.09%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.27) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Nektar Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $56,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System purchased a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $63,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 63.0% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 73,352 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 28,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. acquired a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $99,000. 75.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.