Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Decreases Position in Nektar Therapeutics $NKTR

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has reduced its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 26.9%, selling 196,024 shares, and now owns approximately 4.28% of the company, valued at $361,000.
• Multiple institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Nektar Therapeutics, with Almitas Capital LLC boosting its position by 401.1%, now owning over 4.6 million shares.
• Analysts have generally set a positive outlook for Nektar Therapeutics, with several firms issuing "buy" ratings and raising price targets, including HC Wainwright which set a target price of $120.00.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Free Report) by 26.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 531,362 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 196,024 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 4.28% of Nektar Therapeutics worth $361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Almitas Capital LLC increased its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 401.1% during the first quarter. Almitas Capital LLC now owns 4,610,872 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,135,000 after acquiring an additional 3,690,647 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 336.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,640,851 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,807,595 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 253.1% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,658,745 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188,976 shares during the last quarter. Deuterium Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $381,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 2,435.4% in the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 557,222 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 535,244 shares during the period. 75.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NKTR has been the subject of several analyst reports. HC Wainwright upped 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 reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on Nektar Therapeutics from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nektar Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $91.67.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Up 5.2%

NASDAQ:NKTR opened at $58.50 on Friday. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $6.45 and a 1 year high of $61.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.28 and a 200-day moving average of $20.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.65 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Insider Activity at Nektar Therapeutics

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 1,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.52, for a total transaction of $57,687.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 17,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $585,326.24. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 6,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.69, for a total transaction of $311,235.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 49,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,303,777.98. The trade was a 11.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,178 shares of company stock valued at $938,776 in the last 90 days. 5.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nektar Therapeutics 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NKTR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.