Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Price Target Raised to $120.00 at HC Wainwright

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at HC Wainwright to $120.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price target suggests a potential upside of 356.50% from the company’s previous close.

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

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Up 175.5%

NASDAQ NKTR traded up $16.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $26.29. 33,696,681 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 286,449. The firm has a market cap of $326.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.72 and a beta of 0.55. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $6.48 and a 1-year high of $27.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.84.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($3.30) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.70) by ($0.60). The company had revenue of $10.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.61 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 329.54% and a negative net margin of 152.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($2.70) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $130,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 522,409 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 49,319 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 267.0% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 175,193 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 127,459 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 373,948 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 92,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 108,975 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 22,822 shares during the last quarter. 75.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.