Jonathan Zalevsky Sells 7,355 Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Stock

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 7,355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.75, for a total transaction of $12,871.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 257,670 shares in the company, valued at $450,922.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Jonathan Zalevsky also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 20th, Jonathan Zalevsky sold 9,014 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.68, for a total transaction of $6,129.52.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ:NKTR opened at $1.70 on Wednesday. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.41 and a 1 year high of $1.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $0.84. The stock has a market cap of $312.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.85 and a beta of 0.71.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.91 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 195.02% and a negative return on equity of 107.31%. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.25) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKTR. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $63,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 1,993.9% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 77,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 74,254 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 101,687 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 23,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 186,163 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 37,785 shares in the last quarter. 75.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Nektar Therapeutics from $0.50 to $1.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, January 26th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nektar Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.50.

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.