Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the five analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $3.00.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NKTR shares. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 7th. StockNews.com started coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 66.1% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 311,124 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 123,860 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $179,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 23.8% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,302,369 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $749,000 after acquiring an additional 250,350 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $79,000. 82.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Up 11.6 %

Shares of NKTR opened at $0.65 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $0.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $0.75. The stock has a market cap of $123.58 million, a PE ratio of -0.40 and a beta of 1.00. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.51 and a 52-week high of $4.37.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.30) by $0.03. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 67.03% and a negative net margin of 349.75%. The business had revenue of $20.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.94 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.85) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.92 earnings per share for the current 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 1B clinical trial to treat atopic dermatitis and psoriasis; and NKTR-255, an IL-15 receptor agonist, which is in phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma, and head and neck cancer squamous cell carcinoma and colorectal cancer.