Acuitas Investments LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Acuitas Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) by 26.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 911,204 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 189,744 shares during the quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC owned about 0.48% of Nektar Therapeutics worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 1,993.9% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 77,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 74,254 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 30.6% during the 4th 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. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 300.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 229,841 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 172,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CM Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. CM Management LLC now owns 800,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the period. 75.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NKTR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $0.50 to $1.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday, January 26th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nektar Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $1.36. 157,308 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,126,252. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.90 and a beta of 0.90. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.41 and a 52-week high of $1.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1.01 and a 200-day moving average of $0.70.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company 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 company earned ($0.32) EPS. On average, equities research 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.