Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Trading Down 5.5% – What’s Next?

by · The Markets Daily

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR – Get Free Report) shares traded down 5.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $53.60 and last traded at $54.5650. 222,765 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 875,714 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on NKTR shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up from $99.00) on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Monday, November 24th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, September 19th. B. Riley raised their price objective on Nektar Therapeutics from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.33.

View Our Latest Analysis on NKTR

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Up 7.0%

The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.86 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $58.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.95.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.85) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.85) by $1.00. The firm had revenue of $11.79 million during 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 2,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.28, for a total value of $119,795.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 54,245 shares in the company, valued at $2,944,418.60. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark Andrew Wilson sold 630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.28, for a total value of $34,196.40. Following 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 3,994 shares of company stock valued at $216,794 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 1.4% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,301,734 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,961,000 after purchasing an additional 100,645 shares in the last quarter. Almitas Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 401.1% during the 1st quarter. Almitas Capital LLC now owns 4,610,872 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,135,000 after buying an additional 3,690,647 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 336.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,640,851 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,807,595 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,007,928 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 380,967 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 30.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 948,647 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $53,978,000 after acquiring an additional 219,155 shares in the last quarter. 75.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Nektar Therapeutics

(Get Free Report)

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.

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