Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires New Holdings in Nkarta, Inc. (NASDAQ:NKTX)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in shares of Nkarta, Inc. (NASDAQ:NKTX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 103,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nkarta in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Nkarta by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 18,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 6,867 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Nkarta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Nkarta by 252.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,063,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,806,000 after acquiring an additional 761,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in Nkarta in the third quarter valued at approximately $151,000. 80.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nkarta Trading Down 4.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NKTX opened at $1.63 on Friday. Nkarta, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1.31 and a 12-month high of $9.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.72. The company has a market capitalization of $115.66 million, a PE ratio of -0.87 and a beta of 0.83.

Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.41) by $0.06. Equities research analysts predict that Nkarta, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Paul J. Hastings sold 17,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.20, for a total transaction of $38,231.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 319,859 shares in the company, valued at $703,689.80. This trade represents a 5.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 8.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NKTX shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Nkarta from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Nkarta in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Nkarta in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $14.86.

About Nkarta

Nkarta, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes natural killer cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune disease treatment. The company's lead product candidate is NKX019, a chimeric antigen receptor-natural killer (CAR NK) targeting the CD19 antigen that is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of relapsed/refractory (r/r) non-hodgkin lymphoma, as well as for lupus nephritis.