Altium Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Altium Capital Management LLC raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) by 26,172.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,000,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,988,581 shares during the period. Altium Capital Management LLC owned 1.63% of Nektar Therapeutics worth $2,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKTR. Peapod Lane Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $1,030,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 197.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 913,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 606,057 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,910,786 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,637,000 after purchasing an additional 583,153 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $615,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 11.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,345,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 355,759 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on NKTR. B. Riley began coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $4.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com began coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $6.50 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $1.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nektar Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

NKTR stock opened at $0.64 on Friday. Nektar Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.43 and a fifty-two week high of $1.93. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $0.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.76 and a beta of 0.69.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.33. The business had revenue of $29.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.65 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 180.70% and a negative return on equity of 173.28%. Equities analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 EPS 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.