Jefferies Group LLC Reaffirms Buy Rating for Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Jefferies Group LLC in a research note issued on Friday, July 21st. They presently have a $23.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Jefferies Group LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 24.86% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Roth Capital set a $31.00 target price on Nektar Therapeutics and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 22nd. Aegis reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. BidaskClub raised Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 27th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Nektar Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 27th. Finally, ValuEngine upgraded Nektar Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.10.

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) traded down 5.64% during trading on Friday, reaching $18.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,527,760 shares. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $20.56 and its 200-day moving average is $18.52. The stock’s market capitalization is $2.88 billion. Nektar Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $11.41 and a 12-month high of $24.88.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by $0.04. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 1,223.34% and a negative net margin of 157.14%. The company had revenue of $34.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.36) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post ($0.95) earnings per share for the current year.

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In related news, Director Roy A. Whitfield purchased 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.95 per share, for a total transaction of $628,250.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 133,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,387,350. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Ivan P. Gergel sold 45,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.08, for a total transaction of $950,286.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,095,337.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 138,389 shares of company stock worth $2,908,403. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Piedmont Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 264.6% in the second quarter. Piedmont Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,545 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $656,000 after buying an additional 24,344 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 7.7% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 13,011 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 3.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 114,357 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,235,000 after buying an additional 3,683 shares during the period. Redmile Group LLC acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $285,000. Finally, PointState Capital LP raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 281.7% in the second quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 1,731,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,841,000 after buying an additional 1,277,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.02% of the company’s stock.

About Nektar Therapeutics

Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers and develops medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The Company’s research and development pipeline of new investigational drugs includes treatments for cancer, auto-immune disease and chronic pain. It leverages its chemistry platform to discover and design new drug candidates.