Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Raised to "Hold" at UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group upgraded Nektar Therapeutics to “Hold,” while analyst opinions remain mixed; MarketBeat’s consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $130.67 target price.
• Nektar shares fell 4.8% to open at $37.92, near their $33.40 one-year low and well below the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• The company reported a quarterly loss of $1.23 per share, better than the expected $1.97 loss, but revenue of $10.13 million slightly missed estimates and profitability metrics remained deeply negative.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at UBS Group to a "hold" rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

NKTR has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen raised Nektar Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Wedbush dropped their price target on Nektar Therapeutics from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 28th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $153.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nektar Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.67.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Down 4.8%

Shares of NKTR stock opened at $37.92 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.66 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.41. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $33.40 and a 1 year high of $109.00.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.97) by $0.74. The business had revenue of $10.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.43 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 37.87% and a negative net margin of 287.84%. Analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -8.08 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, CEO Howard Robin sold 418 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total transaction 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 represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $25,199,000 after acquiring an additional 328,000 shares during the period. BVF Inc. IL boosted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 1,559,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $65,940,000 after acquiring an additional 283,000 shares during the last quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $19,786,000. Two Seas Capital LP increased its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 3,345,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $202,582,000 after purchasing an additional 253,744 shares during the period. Finally, Braidwell LP raised 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 during the last quarter. 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.

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