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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Two Sigma Securities LLC lifted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 27,654 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 9,958 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC bought a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. US Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 42.4% in the 4th quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 14,895 shares in the last quarter. 75.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. HC Wainwright reissued 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 shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $6.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $1.00 to $2.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $4.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NKTR traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $0.67. The company had a trading volume of 2,043,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,851,889. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $0.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $0.83. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $0.43 and a 52 week high of $1.52. The company has a market capitalization 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $10.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period 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.

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.