Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Sets New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) achieved a new 52-week high, trading at $49.01, with a closing price of $48.18 and a volume of over 1.6 million shares.
• The company received mixed reviews from analysts, with HC Wainwright setting a buy rating and a target price of $120, while Wall Street Zen downgraded it to a sell rating.
• Nektar's recent earnings report showed a loss of $2.95 per share, which was an improvement over the expected loss of $3.13, with revenue surpassing estimates at $11.18 million.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $49.01 and last traded at $48.18, with a volume of 1653916 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $48.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on NKTR. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nektar Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on Nektar Therapeutics to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. B. Riley increased their target price on Nektar Therapeutics from $60.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their target price on Nektar Therapeutics from $60.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nektar Therapeutics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.33.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Down 0.8%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.02. The stock has a market cap of $916.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.48 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Insider Activity at Nektar Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 6,666 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.53, for a total value of $256,840.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 56,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,157,988.24. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 1,721 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.52, for a total value of $57,687.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $585,326.24. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,512 shares of company stock valued at $627,540. Insiders own 5.25% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,301,734 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,961,000 after acquiring an additional 100,645 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 187.3% in the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 4,974,512 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,626,000 after acquiring an additional 3,242,841 shares in the last quarter. Almitas Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 401.1% in the 1st quarter. Almitas Capital LLC now owns 4,610,872 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,135,000 after acquiring an additional 3,690,647 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 336.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,640,851 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,807,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,007,928 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 380,967 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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