Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) Shares Down 2%

Nkarta, Inc. (NASDAQ:NKTX)’s stock price dropped 2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $5.19 and last traded at $5.32. Approximately 379,348 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 1,255,022 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright cut their price target on shares of Nkarta from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Nkarta in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Raymond James raised Nkarta from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.20.

Nkarta Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $262.89 million, a PE ratio of -2.26 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.55.

Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by $0.15. As a group, research analysts predict that Nkarta, Inc. will post -1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Alicia J. Hager sold 3,396 shares of Nkarta stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $27,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 103,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $830,552. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 8.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nkarta

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Forefront Analytics LLC purchased a new stake in Nkarta in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $70,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Nkarta by 92.9% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 9,975 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nkarta in the 2nd quarter worth about $938,000. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nkarta in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,182,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Nkarta by 84.4% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 179,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after acquiring an additional 81,998 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.54% of the company’s stock.

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.