Brokerages Set Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) PT at $1.50

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1.50.

Separately, Rodman & Renshaw began coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2.00 price target on the stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NKTR opened at $1.35 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.20. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.41 and a 52-week high of $1.93. The company has a market cap of $248.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.47 and a beta of 0.66.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $23.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.24 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 195.02% and a negative return on equity of 107.31%. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.27) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Nektar Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 30.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 101,687 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 23,829 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Acuitas Investments LLC raised its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 911,204 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 189,744 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 186,163 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 37,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monaco Asset Management SAM boosted its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 5,973,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,375,000 after buying an additional 1,163,786 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

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.