Nkarta, Inc. (NASDAQ:NKTX) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Nkarta, Inc. (NASDAQ:NKTX) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.86.

NKTX has been the subject of several research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Nkarta in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Nkarta in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Nkarta from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Paul J. Hastings sold 17,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.20, for a total transaction of $38,231.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 319,859 shares in the company, valued at $703,689.80. This trade represents a 5.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 8.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nkarta

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Nkarta by 138.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,537,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,560 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in Nkarta by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,520,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,277,000 after acquiring an additional 686,229 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Nkarta by 901.7% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,504,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,236,000 after acquiring an additional 2,254,219 shares in the last quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nkarta by 252.9% in the 4th quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 2,293,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,719 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Nkarta by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,334,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,323,000 after purchasing an additional 250,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.54% of the company’s stock.

Nkarta Stock Performance

Shares of NKTX stock opened at $1.91 on Thursday. Nkarta has a fifty-two week low of $1.31 and a fifty-two week high of $10.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.76. The company has a market cap of $135.53 million, a PE ratio of -1.02 and a beta of 0.90.

Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.41) by $0.06. On average, equities analysts predict that Nkarta will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nkarta Company Profile

Nkarta, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes natural killer cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune disease treatment. The company's lead product candidate is NKX019, a chimeric antigen receptor-natural killer (CAR NK) targeting the CD19 antigen that is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of relapsed/refractory (r/r) non-hodgkin lymphoma, as well as for lupus nephritis.