Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $60.35, but opened at $63.10. Nektar Therapeutics shares last traded at $60.67, with a volume of 102,870 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on NKTR. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. Citigroup assumed coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Finally, B. Riley raised their price objective on Nektar Therapeutics from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nektar Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.33.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $58.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.16 and a beta of 1.19.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.85) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.85) by $1.00. The business had revenue of $11.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.20 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 163.17% and a negative return on equity of 631.43%. Equities research analysts predict that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 6,666 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.69, for a total transaction of $311,235.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 49,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,303,777.98. The trade was a 11.90% 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 1,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.52, for a total value of $57,687.92. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $585,326.24. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 26,198 shares of company stock worth $1,076,491 over the last 90 days. 3.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Armistice Capital LLC grew its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 116.1% in the 3rd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 268,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $15,249,000 after purchasing an additional 144,000 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $795,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $523,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $9,774,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,389,000. 75.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.