BTIG Research Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Stock

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at BTIG Research from $60.00 to $100.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. BTIG Research’s target price suggests a potential upside of 243.41% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on NKTR. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nektar Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.43.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NKTR opened at $29.12 on Tuesday. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $6.48 and a 52 week high of $37.38. The firm has a market cap of $361.38 million, a P/E ratio of -3.03 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.05.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($3.30) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.70) by ($0.60). Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 152.49% and a negative return on equity of 329.54%. The company had revenue of $10.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($2.70) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Nektar Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 46.8% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 266,773 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 85,094 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 221,761 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 41,948 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,301,734 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,961,000 after acquiring an additional 100,645 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $344,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.