Nektar Therapeutics’ (NKTR) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

BTIG Research restated their buy rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. BTIG Research currently has a $178.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Nektar Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

NKTR opened at $41.17 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.14 and a beta of 1.26. Nektar Therapeutics has a one year low of $33.40 and a one year high of $109.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Seas Capital LP grew its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 8.2% in the third quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 3,345,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $202,582,000 after purchasing an additional 253,744 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 53.2% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 25,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,990 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 55.9% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 19,183 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after buying an additional 6,881 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 27.3% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 8,477 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 1,816 shares during the period. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $5,942,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

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.