Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Short Interest Down 17.4% in October

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,040,000 shares, a decline of 17.4% from the September 30th total of 7,310,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.9 days. Approximately 3.4% of the company's stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 232,289 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 46,126 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System bought a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $63,000. Lynx1 Capital Management LP increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 139,644 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 63.0% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 73,352 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 28,338 shares during the period. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 75.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NKTR traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $1.36. 967,902 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,737,409. The firm has a market capitalization of $250.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.48 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.35. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $0.41 and a 52 week high of $1.93.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($0.04). Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 133.64% and a negative net margin of 190.09%. The company had revenue of $23.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.27) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $2.33.

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.