Nektar Therapeutics’ (NKTR) Buy Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $185.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday, August 28th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday, September 25th. Wedbush decreased their target price on Nektar Therapeutics from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised Nektar Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NKTR stock opened at $43.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $69.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.05. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $33.40 and a 52-week high of $109.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of -6.50 and a beta of 1.26.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.97) by $0.74. The company had revenue of $10.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.43 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 287.84% and a negative return on equity of 37.87%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nektar Therapeutics will post -8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Nektar Therapeutics

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, CEO Howard Robin sold 418 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total transaction of $30,087.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 54,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,932,051.46. This trade represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BVF Inc. IL raised its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 1,559,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $65,940,000 after acquiring an additional 283,000 shares during the period. Braidwell LP increased its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 112.7% during the 2nd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 473,617 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,063,000 after purchasing an additional 250,916 shares in the last quarter. Two Seas Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,506,000. Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 2.7% in the first quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 394,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $28,392,000 after purchasing an additional 10,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 122.4% in the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 596,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,199,000 after purchasing an additional 328,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Nektar Therapeutics

Here are the key news stories impacting Nektar Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New Phase 2b data showed durable responses in alopecia areata: 75% of responders maintained a SALT score of 20 or lower four months after treatment ended, while 63% maintained that response after six months. Hair regrowth also continued after treatment, with 19% of patients reaching a SALT score of 10 or lower. New Rezpegaldesleukin Data Supporting Long-term Durability and Disease Improvement
• Positive Sentiment: Nektar has expanded its Phase 3 ZENITH atopic dermatitis program into treatment-experienced patients and expects to begin the Phase 3 ZENITH alopecia areata study in early 2027, creating additional clinical catalysts.
• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright reaffirmed its Buy rating and maintained a $185 price target, implying substantial upside based on its long-term valuation assumptions.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management and analysts discussed the REZPEG data and development strategy, while additional biomarker results indicated early molecular responses across immune pathways involved in atopic dermatitis.
• Negative Sentiment: The market reaction suggests investors view the new data as insufficient to remove concerns about REZPEG’s commercial opportunity, competitive positioning, or the time and risk involved in reaching approval. Nektar Therapeutics Downgrade to Hold
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst downgrade to Hold and reports describing a more-than-20% selloff show that investors are prioritizing near- to medium-term uncertainty over the positive durability results. Why Nektar Shares Fell Despite Promising Alopecia Results

Nektar Therapeutics Company Profile

Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing medicines that use the body’s immune system to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company’s research programs are based on proprietary drug-design and immunology technologies intended to improve the activity, targeting, or dosing of therapeutic agents.

Nektar’s pipeline has included NKTR-255, an investigational interleukin-15 receptor agonist designed to activate natural killer cells and support antitumor immune responses.