Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stake in Nektar Therapeutics $NKTR

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 85.9%, holding only 8,489 shares worth approximately $210,000 following the sale of 51,882 shares in the second quarter.
• Analysts have mixed views on Nektar Therapeutics, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $91.67, while some firms gave buy ratings with targets as high as $120.
• Insider selling was observed, with notable transactions including CEO Howard W. Robin selling 6,666 shares and insider Jonathan Zalevsky selling 1,721 shares, indicating a decrease in their positions.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC trimmed its stake in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Free Report) by 85.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,489 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 51,882 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Nektar Therapeutics worth $210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKTR. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 257.8% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 50,085 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 36,085 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $52,000. 49 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $68,000. 75.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, September 19th. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 1,721 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 17,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at $585,326.24. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.69, for a total transaction of $311,235.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,342 shares in the company, 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 worth $938,776 in the last three months. Insiders own 5.25% of the company's stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ NKTR opened at $54.34 on Friday. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $6.45 and a 1 year high of $62.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of -6.18 and a beta of 1.18. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $41.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.59.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($2.95) 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 net margin of 163.17% and a negative return on equity of 631.43%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 EPS for the current year.

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.

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