HC Wainwright Reaffirms Buy Rating for Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $6.50 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

NKTR has been the topic of several other reports. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $4.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $4.92.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ NKTR opened at $0.90 on Thursday. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.65 and a 1 year high of $1.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.42 million, a PE ratio of -1.07 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $0.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.08.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.33. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 180.70% and a negative return on equity of 173.28%. The business had revenue of $29.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.65 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mark Andrew Wilson sold 33,402 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.90, for a total value of $30,061.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 351,892 shares in the company, valued at $316,702.80. This trade represents a 8.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 46,995 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.01, for a total transaction of $47,464.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,195,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,207,667.10. The trade was a 3.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 165,586 shares of company stock worth $159,990 in the last 90 days. 3.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Two Sigma Securities LLC grew its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 27,654 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 9,958 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC bought a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. US Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Valence8 US LP bought a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

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.