Invesco Ltd. Cuts Stake in Nektar Therapeutics $NKTR

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 4.9%, owning 623,218 shares after selling 32,308 during the first quarter, valuing its stake at $424,000.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Nektar Therapeutics, with B. Riley raising it from $60 to $85 and BTIG increasing theirs from $60 to $100, while the consensus target price stands at $88.33.
• Nektar's stock has experienced significant growth, with shares up 11.7%, and the company recently reported earnings of ($2.95) per share, beating analyst expectations.

Invesco Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Free Report) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 623,218 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 32,308 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.33% of Nektar Therapeutics worth $424,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NKTR. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 108,975 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 22,822 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 192,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 10,941 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 200.3% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 181,679 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 121,187 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,414,984 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,316,000 after buying an additional 12,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 373,948 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 92,346 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 6,666 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 49,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,303,777.98. This trade represents a 11.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 1,721 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.52, for a total transaction of $57,687.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,462 shares in the company, valued at $585,326.24. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,178 shares of company stock worth $938,776 over the last ninety days. 5.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKTR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $60.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $60.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Nektar Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.33.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock traded down $0.98 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $47.20. 2,798,406 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 987,591. Nektar Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $6.45 and a twelve month high of $50.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $897.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.26.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($2.95) earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $11.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.42 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nektar Therapeutics Company 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.