HC Wainwright Issues Positive Forecast for Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Stock Price

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) had its target price boosted by analysts at HC Wainwright to $120.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 307.89% from the company’s current price. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Nektar Therapeutics’ Q1 2026 earnings at ($3.00) EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at ($3.06) EPS.

NKTR has been the topic of several other reports. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.43.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Up 1.0%

NKTR stock traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.42. 4,339,422 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 417,828. Nektar Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $6.48 and a twelve month high of $37.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $365.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.01 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.05.

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

Institutional Trading of Nektar Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NKTR. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 730,875 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 80,034 shares during the period. Monaco Asset Management SAM raised its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 2,032,868 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 35,648 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 50.6% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 94,152 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 31,654 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,182,995 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 269,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 522,409 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 49,319 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

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.