Two Sigma Investments LP Acquires 174,185 Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,537,355 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 174,185 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP owned 0.83% of Nektar Therapeutics worth $1,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Securities LLC raised its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 27,654 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 9,958 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC bought a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 14,895 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 50,277 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 16,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 50.6% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 94,152 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 31,654 shares in the last quarter. 75.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NKTR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, May 12th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6.50 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer upgraded Nektar Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $1.00 to $2.00 in a research note 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Down 5.9%

NASDAQ NKTR opened at $0.75 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $0.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $139.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.89 and a beta of 0.62. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.43 and a 1-year high of $1.52.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $10.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.61 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 180.70% and a negative return on equity of 173.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Nektar Therapeutics 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.