Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Stock Rating Raised to Hold at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) to a hold rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on NKTR. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 28th. TD Cowen upgraded Nektar Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, October 9th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nektar Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.67.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Down 4.8%

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock opened at $37.92 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $65.23 and its 200 day moving average is $69.41. Nektar Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $33.40 and a twelve month high of $109.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.66 and a beta of 1.26.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.97) by $0.74. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 287.84% and a negative return on equity of 37.87%. The business had revenue of $10.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.43 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Howard Robin sold 418 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total transaction of $30,087.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 54,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,932,051.46. This trade represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,942,000. Orbimed Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $19,786,000. Braidwell LP grew its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 112.7% during the 2nd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 473,617 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,063,000 after purchasing an additional 250,916 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 50.2% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 47,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,446,000 after buying an additional 16,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 97.5% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 28,682 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,064,000 after purchasing an additional 14,162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Company Profile

Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing medicines that use the body’s immune system to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company’s research programs are based on proprietary drug-design and immunology technologies intended to improve the activity, targeting, or dosing of therapeutic agents.

Nektar’s pipeline has included NKTR-255, an investigational interleukin-15 receptor agonist designed to activate natural killer cells and support antitumor immune responses.