Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $2.33.

A number of analysts have weighed in on NKTR shares. Rodman & Renshaw started coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $2.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, September 30th.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NKTR opened at $1.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.91 million, a P/E ratio of -1.43 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.31. Nektar Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $0.41 and a twelve month high of $1.93.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($0.04). Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 133.64% and a negative net margin of 190.09%. The company had revenue of $23.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.27) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Nektar Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NKTR. Samlyn Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $11,728,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,970,000 after buying an additional 3,414,712 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 56.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,659,469 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,778,000 after buying an additional 1,674,924 shares during the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 66.0% in the second quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 4,110,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,096,000 after buying an additional 1,634,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $1,037,000. 75.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.