Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.63) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.07) by $0.44, FiscalAI reports. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 37.87% and a negative net margin of 287.84%. The business had revenue of $9.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 million.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ NKTR traded down $1.19 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $37.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 769,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,064,109. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.56 and a beta of 1.44. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $33.40 and a 1-year high of $109.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $49.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.54.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Howard Robin sold 418 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 54,627 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on NKTR. UBS Group started coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Monday, October 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.67.

About Nektar Therapeutics

Nektar Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in San Francisco, California. It discovers and develops medicines, with a current focus on treatments for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Its lead investigational program, rezpegaldesleukin (REZPEG), is designed to stimulate regulatory T cells, which help regulate immune responses. Nektar is studying the candidate in clinical trials for immune-mediated conditions; it is not an approved medicine. Founded in 1990 as Inhale Therapeutic Systems, the company later adopted the Nektar name as it expanded its drug-development work.