253,744 Nektar Therapeutics $NKTR Shares Bought by Two Seas Capital LP

Two Seas Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) by 8.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,345,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 253,744 shares during the quarter. Nektar Therapeutics comprises 2.3% of Two Seas Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Two Seas Capital LP owned approximately 0.10% of Nektar Therapeutics worth $202,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BVF Inc. IL grew its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 1,559,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $65,940,000 after purchasing an additional 283,000 shares during the period. Braidwell LP lifted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 112.7% in the second quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 473,617 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,063,000 after buying an additional 250,916 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 2.7% in the first quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 394,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $28,392,000 after buying an additional 10,262 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 122.4% during the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 596,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,199,000 after acquiring an additional 328,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orbimed Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $19,786,000. Institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on NKTR. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Nektar Therapeutics from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $178.00 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Nektar Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nektar Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Down 5.5%

Shares of NASDAQ NKTR traded down $2.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,956,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,097,983. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.81. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of -5.96 and a beta of 1.26. Nektar Therapeutics has a one year low of $33.40 and a one year high of $109.00.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.97) by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $10.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.43 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 37.87% and a negative net margin of 287.84%. Sell-side analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nektar Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Howard Robin sold 418 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total value of $30,087.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 54,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,932,051.46. This trade represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Company Profile

Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing medicines that use the body’s immune system to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company’s research programs are based on proprietary drug-design and immunology technologies intended to improve the activity, targeting, or dosing of therapeutic agents.

Nektar’s pipeline has included NKTR-255, an investigational interleukin-15 receptor agonist designed to activate natural killer cells and support antitumor immune responses.