Wellington Management Group LLP Purchases Shares of 11,488 Nektar Therapeutics $NKTR

Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 11,488 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 336.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,640,851 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,807,595 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $68,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 23.3% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 221,761 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 41,948 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $367,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $65,000. Institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 5,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $397,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,756 shares in the company, valued at $682,920. This trade represents a 36.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Howard W. Robin sold 418 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total value of $30,087.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 54,627 shares in the company, valued at $3,932,051.46. This trade represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 21,823 shares of company stock worth $1,380,558 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NKTR stock opened at $69.76 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $72.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.07. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $33.40 and a 1 year high of $109.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.41 and a beta of 1.14.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.97) by $0.74. The company had revenue of $10.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.43 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 287.84% and a negative return on equity of 37.87%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -8.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on NKTR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, August 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded Nektar Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $178.00 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Nektar Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Profile

Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing medicines that harness the body’s immune system to treat cancer and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The company’s research is centered on cytokine biology, immune-cell regulation and its proprietary polymer-conjugation technologies, which are designed to modify therapeutic compounds and potentially improve their duration, delivery or tolerability.

Nektar’s pipeline has included investigational therapies such as rezpegaldesleukin, an immune-modulating treatment being studied for autoimmune and inflammatory conditions.