Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) CEO Sells $15,549.36 in Stock

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) CEO Howard W. Robin sold 23,208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.67, for a total value of $15,549.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,063,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $712,674.31. The trade was a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock opened at $0.65 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $0.68 and a 200 day moving average of $0.86. Nektar Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $0.43 and a 12 month high of $1.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.78 and a beta of 0.62.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $10.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.61 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 180.70% and a negative return on equity of 173.28%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, May 12th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $1.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NKTR. Two Sigma Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 27,654 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 9,958 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. US Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC raised its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 42.4% in the 4th quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 14,895 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

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.