Nektar Therapeutics Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 7,673 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 3,045% compared to the typical daily volume of 244 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on NKTR shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Monday, January 13th. B. Riley initiated coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $4.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nektar Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4.08.

Insider Transactions at Nektar Therapeutics

In other news, insider Mark Andrew Wilson sold 33,402 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.90, for a total transaction of $30,061.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 351,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $316,702.80. This represents a 8.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 46,995 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 155,575 shares of company stock valued at $149,878 in the last three months. 3.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valence8 US LP bought a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 14,895 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Up 0.9 %

Nektar Therapeutics stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $0.79. 769,250 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,433,059. Nektar Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.57 and a fifty-two week high of $1.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.99 million, a P/E ratio of -0.94 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $0.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.16.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $24.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.54 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 173.28% and a negative net margin of 180.70%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS. Research analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 EPS for the current year.

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.