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

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One 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 twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $3.00.

NKTR has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Rodman & Renshaw initiated coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $0.50 to $1.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, major shareholder Deep Track Capital, Lp sold 56,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.78, for a total transaction of $99,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,344,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,652,320. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Nektar Therapeutics news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 16,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.75, for a total transaction of $29,137.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 863,239 shares in the company, valued at $1,510,668.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Deep Track Capital, Lp sold 56,000 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.78, for a total value of $99,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,344,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 valued at $165,089. 3.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKTR. Lynx1 Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Lynx1 Capital Management LP now owns 2,068,842 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after purchasing an additional 139,644 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $63,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 24.8% during the first quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 232,289 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 46,126 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 185.5% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 5,255,790 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,970,000 after buying an additional 3,414,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monaco Asset Management SAM increased its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 5,973,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,786 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Down 4.1 %

NASDAQ NKTR opened at $1.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $215.30 million, a P/E ratio of -1.27 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.01. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.03. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 195.02% and a negative return on equity of 107.31%. The firm had revenue of $21.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.91 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.84 EPS for the current year.

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.