MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wedbush dropped their price objective on MannKind from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research upgraded MannKind from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded MannKind from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on MannKind from $3.50 to $4.75 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price target on MannKind from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with 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, MannKind has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.97.

MannKind Stock Performance

MNKD opened at $3.40 on Friday. MannKind has a one year low of $2.23 and a one year high of $6.51. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.56 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.29.

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.03). MannKind had a negative net margin of 6.63% and a negative return on equity of 11.21%. The business had revenue of $90.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $105.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.04 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that MannKind will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven B. Binder sold 16,940 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.29, for a total transaction of $55,732.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 808,008 shares in the company, valued at $2,658,346.32. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Michael Castagna purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2.59 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,575,911 shares in the company, valued at $6,671,609.49. The trade was a 4.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of MannKind by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,047,869 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,997,000 after purchasing an additional 695,852 shares during the last quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MannKind by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 974,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,527,000 after purchasing an additional 251,200 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of MannKind by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,880,873 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,385,000 after purchasing an additional 250,290 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MannKind in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $147,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in shares of MannKind by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 33,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404 shares during the last quarter. 49.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MannKind

MannKind Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of inhaled therapeutic products for endocrine and orphan lung diseases in the United States. It offers Afrezza, an inhaled insulin used to improve glycemic control in adults with diabetes, and the V-Go wearable insulin delivery device, which provides continuous subcutaneous infusion of insulin in adults. The company's product pipeline also includes Tyvaso DPI (Treprostinil), an inhalation powder for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease; MNKD-101, a nebulized formulation of clofazimine, for the treatment of severe chronic and recurrent pulmonary infections, including nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease; MNKD-201, a dry-powder formulation of nintedanib, for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).