William Blair Reiterates Market Perform Rating for Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market perform" rating reaffirmed by analysts at William Blair in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,RTT News reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $6.50 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. B. Riley started coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $4.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nektar Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $4.70.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NKTR traded up $0.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $0.84. 594,703 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,848,774. Nektar Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $0.65 and a 12-month high of $1.93. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $0.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.08. The firm has a market cap of $154.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.99 and a beta of 0.65.

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Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.33. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 180.70% and a negative return on equity of 173.28%. The firm had revenue of $29.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.65 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark Andrew Wilson sold 33,402 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.90, for a total transaction of $30,061.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 351,892 shares in the company, valued at $316,702.80. The trade was a 8.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 46,995 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.01, for a total value of $47,464.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,195,710 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,207,667.10. This represents a 3.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 165,586 shares of company stock worth $159,990. 3.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nektar Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 24.8% in the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 9,400,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $12,220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,870,904 shares during the period. Nantahala Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 90.0% in the 4th quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 7,810,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $7,263,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700,000 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 187.3% during the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 4,974,512 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,626,000 after buying an additional 3,242,841 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,910,786 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,637,000 after acquiring an additional 583,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 11.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,345,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 355,759 shares during the period. 75.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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