Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.05), FiscalAI reports.

Nkarta Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of Nkarta stock traded up $0.08 on Wednesday, hitting $2.13. 414,186 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 766,559. Nkarta has a 12-month low of $1.31 and a 12-month high of $2.81. The company has a market cap of $151.29 million, a P/E ratio of -1.54 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.10.

Insider Transactions at Nkarta

In related news, CEO Paul J. Hastings sold 26,046 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.07, for a total value of $53,915.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 390,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $807,347.61. This represents a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 8.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nkarta

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Nkarta by 28.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 150,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 33,632 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in Nkarta by 698.4% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 134,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 117,856 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Nkarta by 118.7% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 134,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 852,559 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nkarta by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 107,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Nkarta by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 88,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 44,810 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NKTX shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Nkarta in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nkarta from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.25.

About Nkarta

Nkarta, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in the development of off-the-shelf natural killer (NK) cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. Leveraging proprietary activation and expansion technologies, Nkarta aims to harness the innate tumor-killing properties of NK cells while incorporating targeted immuno-engineering approaches to enhance safety, potency and persistence in patients. The company’s platform supports both allogeneic cell manufacturing and genetic modifications to generate chimeric antigen receptor-expressing NK cell candidates designed to address a range of hematologic and solid tumors.

Nkarta’s lead program, NKX019, is an anti-CD19 CAR-NK cell therapy in early-phase clinical trials for relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies.