Short Interest in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Drops By 92.9%

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 753,700 shares, a drop of 92.9% from the May 15th total of 10,660,000 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 172,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NKTR has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Nektar Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, May 12th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $97.50 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $130,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 522,409 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 49,319 shares in the last quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,030,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 267.0% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 175,193 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 127,459 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 32.8% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.88% of the company's stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of NKTR stock traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $9.06. 239,763 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 134,681. Nektar Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $6.48 and a fifty-two week high of $22.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.79 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $9.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.26.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.70) by ($0.60). Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 173.28% and a negative net margin of 180.70%. The company had revenue of $10.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.70) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 EPS 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.