Leerink Partners Begins Coverage on Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Posted by George Bondi on Oct 14th, 2026

Research analysts at Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR – Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Leerink Partners’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 242.83% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, August 28th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday, August 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.67.

Get Our Latest Analysis on NKTR

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

Nektar Therapeutics stock opened at $37.92 on Monday. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $33.40 and a 52 week high of $109.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.66 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $65.23 and a 200-day moving average of $69.41.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.97) by $0.74. The business had revenue of $10.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.43 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 37.87% and a negative net margin of 287.84%. On average, research analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nektar Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Howard Robin sold 418 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total transaction of $30,087.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 54,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,932,051.46. This trade represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Two Seas Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 8.2% during the third quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 3,345,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $202,582,000 after purchasing an additional 253,744 shares during the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL raised its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 1,559,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $65,940,000 after buying an additional 283,000 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP raised its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 112.7% in the 2nd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 473,617 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,063,000 after buying an additional 250,916 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 394,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $28,392,000 after buying an additional 10,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC boosted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 122.4% during the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 596,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,199,000 after buying an additional 328,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing medicines that use the body’s immune system to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company’s research programs are based on proprietary drug-design and immunology technologies intended to improve the activity, targeting, or dosing of therapeutic agents.

Nektar’s pipeline has included NKTR-255, an investigational interleukin-15 receptor agonist designed to activate natural killer cells and support antitumor immune responses.