Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Receives $67.50 Consensus PT from Analysts

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.50.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, May 12th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $97.50 price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $15.00 to $30.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NKTR. Two Sigma Securities LLC boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 27,654 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 9,958 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 192,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 10,941 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 107,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 11,681 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,414,984 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 12,826 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 50,277 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 16,543 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.88% of the company's stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NKTR traded down $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $8.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 441,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 135,644. Nektar Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $6.48 and a 12 month high of $22.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.23 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $9.97 and a 200-day moving average of $12.26.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($3.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.70) by ($0.60). The company had revenue of $10.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.61 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 180.70% and a negative return on equity of 173.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($2.70) earnings per share. 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.