Analysts Set Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Target Price at $3.50

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $3.00.

A number of research firms have recently commented on NKTR. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Nektar Therapeutics from $0.50 to $1.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Rodman & Renshaw assumed coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2.00 price target for the company.

Insider Activity at Nektar Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 16,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.75, for a total value of $29,137.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 863,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,510,668.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 16,650 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.75, for a total value of $29,137.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 863,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,510,668.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Deep Track Capital, Lp sold 56,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.78, for a total value of $99,680.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,344,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,652,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 99,505 shares of company stock worth $165,089. Company insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 1,993.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 77,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 74,254 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 185.5% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 5,255,790 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,970,000 after buying an additional 3,414,712 shares during the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 186,163 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 37,785 shares in the last quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM lifted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 5,973,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,375,000 after buying an additional 1,163,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RA Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $11,138,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Up 8.8 %

NKTR opened at $1.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.18 million, a PE ratio of -1.35 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.00. Nektar Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $0.41 and a 12-month high of $1.93.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.91 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 107.31% and a negative net margin of 195.02%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Nektar Therapeutics

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.