MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

MNKD has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of MannKind from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho cut their price objective on MannKind from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MannKind in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on MannKind from $3.50 to $4.75 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded MannKind from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MannKind presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.22.

MannKind Stock Down 5.1%

MannKind stock opened at $3.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of -29.92 and a beta of 1.12. MannKind has a 12-month low of $2.23 and a 12-month high of $6.51. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $3.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.77.

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $90.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $105.38 million. MannKind had a negative net margin of 11.08% and a negative return on equity of 11.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that MannKind will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven B. Binder sold 16,940 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.29, for a total transaction of $55,732.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 808,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,658,346.32. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MannKind

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in MannKind by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,880,873 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $101,385,000 after purchasing an additional 250,290 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of MannKind by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,623,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $82,914,000 after buying an additional 3,883,071 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of MannKind in the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,297,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of MannKind by 146.7% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,194,739 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,896,000 after buying an additional 3,088,820 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of MannKind by 11.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,953,295 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,134,000 after acquiring an additional 509,692 shares during the last quarter. 49.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).