Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Stock Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) shares crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $1.34 and traded as high as $1.44. Nektar Therapeutics shares last traded at $1.39, with a volume of 643,585 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NKTR has been the subject of several recent research reports. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Rodman & Renshaw began coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday, June 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $2.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $2.33.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $264.99 million, a P/E ratio of -1.54 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.34.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 190.09% and a negative return on equity of 133.64%. The business had revenue of $23.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.27) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Samlyn Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $11,728,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 56.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,659,469 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $5,778,000 after buying an additional 1,674,924 shares in the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 66.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 4,110,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $5,096,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634,046 shares during the period. Lynx1 Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 7.2% in the first quarter. Lynx1 Capital Management LP now owns 2,068,842 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,933,000 after buying an additional 139,644 shares during the period. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,037,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.88% of the company's stock.

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.