Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $3.50.

NKTR has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $0.50 to $1.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, January 26th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 5th.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

NKTR stock opened at $1.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1.03 and a 200 day moving average of $0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.38 million, a PE 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.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $23.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.09 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.32) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 1,993.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 77,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 74,254 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 101,687 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 23,829 shares during the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 186,163 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 37,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position 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 valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 172,509 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

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.