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

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

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on NKTR. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $4.00 price objective for the company. Two research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4.08.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Down 10.4 %

Shares of NKTR opened at $0.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $0.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.90 million, a PE ratio of -0.93 and a beta of 0.58. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.65 and a 52-week high of $1.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nektar Therapeutics

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 46,995 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.01, for a total transaction of $47,464.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,195,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,207,667.10. This represents a 3.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 165,586 shares of company stock valued at $159,990. 3.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nektar Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valence8 US LP purchased a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 27,654 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 9,958 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, US Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 75.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.