506,446 Shares in Nektar Therapeutics $NKTR Purchased by Fred Alger Management LLC

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC has acquired a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics, purchasing 506,446 shares valued at approximately $344,000, which accounts for 0.27% of the company.
• Insider Jonathan Zalevsky and CEO Howard W. Robin have recently sold shares of Nektar Therapeutics, resulting in an 8.97% and 10.64% decrease in their respective positions.
• Nektar Therapeutics has received mixed analyst ratings, with six firms giving a "Buy" rating and a consensus target price of $88.33, despite notable fluctuations in stock performance.

Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 506,446 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $344,000. Fred Alger Management LLC owned approximately 0.27% of Nektar Therapeutics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $130,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at $222,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $41,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 522,409 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 49,319 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 14.5% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,007,928 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 380,967 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NKTR. HC Wainwright raised their target price on Nektar Therapeutics to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Nektar Therapeutics from $60.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price objective on Nektar Therapeutics from $60.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.33.

Insider Transactions at Nektar Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.69, for a total value of $311,235.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,303,777.98. This represents a 11.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 1,721 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.52, for a total value of $57,687.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,462 shares in the company, valued at $585,326.24. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,178 shares of company stock worth $938,776 in the last 90 days. 3.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Up 1.8%

NKTR stock traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,497,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,099,389. Nektar Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $6.45 and a 12 month high of $50.53. The business's 50 day moving average price is $29.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.06. The company has a market cap of $948.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.67 and a beta of 1.06.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($2.95) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($3.13) by $0.18. The company had revenue of $11.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.42 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 163.17% and a negative return on equity of 631.43%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Nektar Therapeutics

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.