HC Wainwright Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Stock

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) had its price objective lifted by analysts at HC Wainwright to $120.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price points to a potential upside of 390.80% from the company’s previous close.

NKTR has been the topic of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Oppenheimer raised Nektar Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $30.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.43.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NKTR traded up $14.91 on Tuesday, reaching $24.45. The stock had a trading volume of 36,999,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 296,352. Nektar Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $6.48 and a 12-month high of $27.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.55 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.93.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($3.30) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.70) by ($0.60). The firm had revenue of $10.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.61 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 152.49% and a negative return on equity of 329.54%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.70) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Nantahala Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 90.0% in the 4th quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 7,810,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700,000 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,301,734 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,961,000 after buying an additional 100,645 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 187.3% during the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 4,974,512 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,626,000 after acquiring an additional 3,242,841 shares during the last quarter. Almitas Capital LLC increased its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 401.1% during the first quarter. Almitas Capital LLC now owns 4,610,872 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,135,000 after acquiring an additional 3,690,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,910,786 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,637,000 after acquiring an additional 583,153 shares during the period. 75.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nektar Therapeutics

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.