Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) Stock Price

Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) had its target price decreased by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $15.00 to $14.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on NKTX. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Nkarta in a research note on Thursday. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Nkarta in a research note on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nkarta has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $14.86.

Nkarta Stock Performance

NKTX stock opened at $2.00 on Thursday. Nkarta has a 1 year low of $1.31 and a 1 year high of $11.84. The firm has a market cap of $141.14 million, a P/E ratio of -1.06 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.87.

Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The company reported ($0.35) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.41) by $0.06. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nkarta will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Paul J. Hastings sold 17,378 shares of Nkarta stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.20, for a total value of $38,231.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 319,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $703,689.80. This trade represents a 5.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 8.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nkarta

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Nkarta by 31.7% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,834,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,293,000 after purchasing an additional 442,125 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Nkarta by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,171,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,294,000 after acquiring an additional 33,927 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Nkarta by 252.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,063,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,806,000 after acquiring an additional 761,349 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nkarta during the third quarter valued at approximately $151,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Nkarta by 97.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 133,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 65,600 shares during the period. 80.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Nkarta

Nkarta, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes natural killer cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune disease treatment. The company's lead product candidate is NKX019, a chimeric antigen receptor-natural killer (CAR NK) targeting the CD19 antigen that is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of relapsed/refractory (r/r) non-hodgkin lymphoma, as well as for lupus nephritis.