Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $88.33.

NKTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Nektar Therapeutics to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Nektar Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $30.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised Nektar Therapeutics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Nektar Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Down 3.2%

Nektar Therapeutics stock traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.73. The company had a trading volume of 1,453,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 485,952. The stock has a market cap of $282.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.37 and a beta of 0.94. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $6.48 and a 1 year high of $37.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $13.21 and a 200 day moving average of $12.61.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($3.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.70) by ($0.60). The firm had revenue of $10.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.61 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 152.49% and a negative return on equity of 329.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($2.70) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $130,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 522,409 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 49,319 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 267.0% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 175,193 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 127,459 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 23.3% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 221,761 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 41,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 373,948 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 92,346 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.88% of the company's stock.

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.