Wedbush Cuts Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Price Target to $50.00

Key Points

• Wedbush cut Nektar Therapeutics’ price target from $80 to $50 and maintained a “neutral” rating, implying roughly 18% downside from the prior close.
• Analyst opinion remains mixed: the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $138.50 price target, despite Wedbush’s sharply lower forecast.
• Nektar reported a quarterly loss of $1.23 per share, beating estimates, but revenue of $10.13 million fell slightly short of expectations; the stock opened at $60.97 and was reported down 8.8%.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Wedbush from $80.00 to $50.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Wedbush's target price would indicate a potential downside of 17.99% from the company's previous close.

NKTR has been the topic of several other research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $153.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, August 21st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Nektar Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $138.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Down 8.8%

NKTR stock opened at $60.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.10 and a beta of 1.14. Nektar Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $33.40 and a 12 month high of $109.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $71.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.95.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.97) by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $10.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.43 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 287.84% and a negative return on equity of 37.87%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -8.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Howard Robin sold 418 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were 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 owned 54,627 shares in the company, valued at $3,932,051.46. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The sale 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. Also, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 5,681 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $397,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at $682,920. The trade was a 36.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,285 shares of company stock worth $441,146. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BVF Inc. IL lifted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 1,559,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $65,940,000 after purchasing an additional 283,000 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP lifted its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 112.7% during the second quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 473,617 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $33,063,000 after buying an additional 250,916 shares during the period. Two Seas Capital LP acquired a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,506,000. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 394,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $28,392,000 after acquiring an additional 10,262 shares during the period. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC raised its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 122.4% in the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 596,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $25,199,000 after acquiring an additional 328,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 harness the body's immune system to treat cancer and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The company's research is centered on cytokine biology, immune-cell regulation and its proprietary polymer-conjugation technologies, which are designed to modify therapeutic compounds and potentially improve their duration, delivery or tolerability.

Nektar's pipeline has included investigational therapies such as rezpegaldesleukin, an immune-modulating treatment being studied for autoimmune and inflammatory conditions.

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