Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Shares Purchased by OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Free Report) by 37.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,580,916 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 430,087 shares during the period. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.86% of Nektar Therapeutics worth $1,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 197.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 913,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,187,000 after buying an additional 606,057 shares during the last quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,030,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 49,319 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 108,975 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 22,822 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 96.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 358,294 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 175,596 shares during the period. 75.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

NKTR traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $0.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,429,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,841,044. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.43 and a 52-week high of $1.81. The company's fifty day moving average price is $0.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $127.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.82 and a beta of 0.62.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.04). Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 180.70% and a negative return on equity of 173.28%. The company had revenue of $10.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.18) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NKTR. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $6.50 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer upgraded Nektar Therapeutics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $6.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered Nektar Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Nektar Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $1.00 to $2.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Monday, May 12th. One equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nektar Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $4.50.

Nektar Therapeutics 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.