Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) was the recipient of 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 daily volume of 1,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days. Currently, 5.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Transactions at Nektar Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 16,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 863,239 shares in the company, valued at $1,510,668.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Deep Track Capital, Lp sold 56,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 18,344,000 shares in the company, valued at $32,652,320. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 16,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.75, for a total value of $29,137.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 863,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 quarter. 3.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NKTR. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 1,993.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 77,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 74,254 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 101,687 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 23,829 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Acuitas Investments LLC boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 911,204 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $515,000 after buying an additional 189,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 186,163 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 37,785 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Up 0.7 %

NKTR traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1.38. The company had a trading volume of 912,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,585,765. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.12. The company has a market cap of $253.95 million, a P/E ratio of -1.50 and a beta of 0.66. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.41 and a 1 year high of $1.93.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the company posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.84 EPS for the current year.

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.