HC Wainwright Reiterates Buy Rating for Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $6.50 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 30th. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $4.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4.08.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

NKTR stock opened at $1.03 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $189.99 million, a P/E ratio of -1.23 and a beta of 0.59. Nektar Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $0.48 and a 12 month high of $1.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mark Andrew Wilson sold 33,402 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.90, for a total value of $30,061.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 351,892 shares in the company, valued at $316,702.80. This represents a 8.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 51,115 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.94, for a total transaction of $48,048.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 326,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $307,289.76. This represents a 13.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 155,575 shares of company stock worth $149,878. Company insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Samlyn Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $11,728,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 24.8% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 9,400,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,220,000 after buying an additional 1,870,904 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 56.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,659,469 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,778,000 after buying an additional 1,674,924 shares during the period. Nantahala Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 66.0% during the second quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 4,110,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,096,000 after buying an additional 1,634,046 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 11.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,345,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after buying an additional 355,759 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.