Short Interest in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Expands By 19.4%

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,660,000 shares, an increase of 19.4% from the April 30th total of 8,930,000 shares. Currently, 5.9% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,060,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NKTR. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 107,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 11,681 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 14,895 shares in the last quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC bought a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,030,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 730,875 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 80,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monaco Asset Management SAM grew its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 2,032,868 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 35,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.88% of the company's stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

NKTR traded down $0.01 on Friday, reaching $0.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,043,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,852,594. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.43 and a 1 year high of $1.52. The business's 50 day moving average is $0.66 and its 200 day moving average is $0.83. The stock has a market cap of $123.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.79 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Nektar Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $1.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $6.50 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Nektar Therapeutics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $6.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $4.50.

About Nektar Therapeutics

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.