Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Reduces Position in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 142,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 17,000 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.08% of Nektar Therapeutics worth $132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Two Sigma Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,958 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC purchased a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. US Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 42.4% in the 4th quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 14,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 50,277 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 16,543 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NKTR stock opened at $0.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $125.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.80 and a beta of 0.55. Nektar Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.43 and a one year high of $1.52. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $0.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $0.83.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $10.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NKTR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer raised Nektar Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $1.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6.50 price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, May 12th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nektar Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4.50.

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.