Brokerages Set Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Price Target at $3.50

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $3.50.

NKTR has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday, January 26th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Nektar Therapeutics from $0.50 to $1.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 23,829 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 186,163 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 37,785 shares during the period. CM Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 6.7% in the third quarter. CM Management LLC now owns 800,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 1,993.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 77,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 74,254 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock opened at $1.32 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $0.70. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.41 and a 1 year high of $1.75. The company has a market capitalization of $242.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.90 and a beta of 0.90.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($0.01). Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 306.31% and a negative return on equity of 96.80%. The business had revenue of $23.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.32) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.