Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Stock Rating Upgraded by B. Riley

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at B. Riley to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

NKTR has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.50 price objective on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $4.00 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nektar Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4.08.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NKTR opened at $1.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $210.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.36 and a beta of 0.59. Nektar Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.48 and a one year high of $1.93. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 46,995 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.01, for a total transaction of $47,464.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,195,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,207,667.10. The trade was a 3.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark Andrew Wilson sold 33,402 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.90, for a total value of $30,061.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 351,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $316,702.80. This trade represents a 8.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 155,575 shares of company stock valued at $149,878. Company insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 197.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 913,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 606,057 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 96.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 358,294 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 175,596 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $46,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 50.0% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 91,470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 30,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $615,000. 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.