Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Short Interest Up 140.0% in July

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,720,000 shares, a growth of 140.0% from the June 30th total of 4,050,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 5.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Nektar Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 16,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.75, for a total transaction of $29,137.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 863,239 shares in the company, valued at $1,510,668.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Deep Track Capital, Lp sold 56,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.78, for a total transaction of $99,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,344,000 shares in the company, valued at $32,652,320. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 16,650 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.75, for a total value of $29,137.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 863,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,510,668.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,505 shares of company stock worth $165,089 over the last ninety days. 3.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 2,822.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 551,535 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $684,000 after acquiring an additional 532,663 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $56,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 63.0% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 73,352 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 28,338 shares during the last quarter. Lynx1 Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 7.2% during the first quarter. Lynx1 Capital Management LP now owns 2,068,842 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after buying an additional 139,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Up 0.7 %

NKTR stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 912,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,585,765. The company has a market cap of $253.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.50 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $1.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.12. Nektar Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $0.41 and a 12 month high of $1.93.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.91 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 107.31% and a negative net margin of 195.02%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Rodman & Renshaw began coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.00.

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.