Everence Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR – Get Rating) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 17,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $96,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $215,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 81.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 865,858 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $15,551,000 after acquiring an additional 388,844 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 14.0% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 656,953 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,799,000 after acquiring an additional 80,564 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 5.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 412,754 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,413,000 after acquiring an additional 19,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 123.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 41,642 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 23,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.08% of the company’s stock.

A number of research firms have recently commented on NKTR. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Nektar Therapeutics from $25.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 16th. William Blair cut Nektar Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Nektar Therapeutics from $24.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 1st. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Nektar Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Nektar Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $3.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.17.

NASDAQ NKTR opened at $3.84 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.10. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $3.02 and a 52 week high of $19.37. The company has a market capitalization of $715.29 million, a P/E ratio of -1.44 and a beta of 1.37.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.49) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by $0.23. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 65.64% and a negative net margin of 476.58%. The firm had revenue of $24.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.68) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In related news, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 21,673 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.95, for a total transaction of $85,608.35. Following the sale, the insider now owns 276,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,091,776.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 36,529 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.95, for a total value of $144,289.55. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 620,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,452,716.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 84,627 shares of company stock worth $334,277 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.91% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Profile (Get Rating)

Nektar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing medicines in areas of unmet medical need in the United States and internationally. The company's products include Bempegaldesleukin, a CD122-preferential interleukin-2 (IL-2) pathway agonist, which is in phase 3 clinical trial to treat metastatic melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, muscle-invasive bladder cancer, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, and adjuvant melanoma; phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and urothelial cancer; phase 1/2A clinical trial to treat squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck; phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of solid tumors; and phase 1B clinical trial to treat COVID-19.

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