Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Earns "Buy" Rating from BTIG Research

Key Points

• Nektar Therapeutics has received a "buy" rating from BTIG Research with a price target of $100.00, suggesting a potential upside of 70.18% from its previous close.
• Despite reporting a negative EPS of ($2.95) for the last quarter, the company's revenue exceeded expectations at $11.18 million, indicating strong performance against analyst estimates.
• Insider trades reveal significant selling activity, with CEO Howard W. Robin selling 6,666 shares, reflecting a 11.90% decrease in his ownership stake.

BTIG Research reissued their buy rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Free Report) in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $100.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $60.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nektar Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.33.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Down 6.2%

Shares of NASDAQ NKTR traded down $3.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $55.14. 1,845,690 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,238,330. The business's 50-day moving average price is $30.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.95. Nektar Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $6.45 and a twelve month high of $59.58. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.27 and a beta of 1.06.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 163.17% and a negative return on equity of 631.43%. The business had revenue of $11.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.42 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Nektar Therapeutics

In other news, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 1,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $585,326.24. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 6,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.69, for a total value of $311,235.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 49,342 shares in the company, valued at $2,303,777.98. This represents 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 over the last three months. 5.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NKTR. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $65,000. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $124,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 0.9% during the fourth 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, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $367,000. Institutional investors own 75.88% of the company's stock.

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.