Renaissance Technologies LLC Raises Stock Position in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Free Report) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,910,786 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 583,153 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 2.12% of Nektar Therapeutics worth $3,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NKTR. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 11.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,345,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 355,759 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 50.0% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 91,470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 30,481 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 197.3% in the third 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. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 64,100 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 19,600 shares during the last quarter. 75.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NKTR shares. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $6.50 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $6.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $4.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nektar Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $4.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ NKTR traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $0.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,815,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,817,044. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $0.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $0.95. The stock has a market cap of $141.44 million, a P/E ratio of -0.90 and a beta of 0.69. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.43 and a 1 year high of $1.93.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.33. The business had revenue of $29.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.65 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 180.70% and a negative return on equity of 173.28%. Analysts predict that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

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.