Altium Capital Management LLC Has $715,000 Position in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Key Points

• Altium Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 65.0%, selling nearly 2 million shares, while still maintaining a position of over 1 million shares, which constitutes 1.7% of its portfolio.
• Multiple institutional investors made significant adjustments to their holdings, with US Bancorp DE increasing their stake by 257.8% and Mackenzie Financial Corp increasing their stake by 253.1%.
• Nektar Therapeutics reported a quarterly EPS of ($2.95), which was better than the consensus estimate of ($3.13), and achieved revenue of $11.18 million against expectations of $9.42 million.

Altium Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Free Report) by 65.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,051,379 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 1,948,621 shares during the period. Nektar Therapeutics comprises 1.7% of Altium Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Altium Capital Management LLC owned about 0.56% of Nektar Therapeutics worth $715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Securities LLC increased its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 27,654 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 9,958 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC bought a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. US Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 257.8% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 50,085 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 36,085 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. 75.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Up 2.1%

NASDAQ:NKTR traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.26. 1,203,977 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 668,606. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $518.49 million, a PE ratio of -3.10 and a beta of 0.95. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $6.45 and a 1-year high of $37.38.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($2.95) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($3.13) by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $11.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.42 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 631.43% and a negative net margin of 163.17%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NKTR shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $60.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Monday, May 12th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $60.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.33.

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.