Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) Stock Price Down 3.5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Nkarta shares fell 3.5% to $2.75 in mid-day trading, with volume rising 13% above the average. The company has a market capitalization of approximately $197 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans positive: the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $11.20, despite recent target reductions and some sell recommendations.
• Nkarta reported a quarterly loss of $0.54 per share, missing the $0.36 consensus estimate. The clinical-stage biotechnology company is developing engineered natural-killer cell therapies for cancer, including NKX101 and NKX019.

Nkarta, Inc. (NASDAQ:NKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 3.5% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $2.73 and last traded at $2.75. 681,083 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 13% from the average daily volume of 600,515 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.85.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on NKTX shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Nkarta from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Nkarta in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nkarta from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Nkarta in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright decreased their target price on shares of Nkarta to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nkarta presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $11.20.

Nkarta Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $2.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.68. The firm has a market cap of $196.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.75 and a beta of 0.97.

Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.54) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.36) by ($0.18). On average, research analysts forecast that Nkarta, Inc. will post -1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nkarta

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NKTX. Abel Hall LLC boosted its holdings in Nkarta by 65.4% in the first quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 24,113 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 9,535 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in Nkarta in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nkarta during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Spark Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nkarta during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Nkarta during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. 80.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nkarta

Nkarta, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing engineered natural killer (NK) cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. The company's approach is designed to use allogeneic, or donor-derived, immune cells that can be manufactured for use across multiple patients, with the goal of providing an off-the-shelf alternative to individualized cell therapies.

Nkarta's product candidates include NKX101, an engineered CAR NK cell therapy designed to recognize NKG2D ligands expressed on certain cancer cells, and NKX019, a CD19-targeted CAR NK cell therapy being developed for B-cell malignancies.

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