MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

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

MNKD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on MannKind from $3.50 to $4.75 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MannKind from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Mizuho decreased their target price on MannKind from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $11.00 target price on MannKind and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of MannKind from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.97.

MannKind Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:MNKD opened at $4.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.03. MannKind has a fifty-two week low of $2.23 and a fifty-two week high of $6.51. The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of -60.71 and a beta of 1.09.

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $90.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $105.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.04 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that MannKind will post -0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Steven B. Binder sold 16,940 shares of MannKind stock in a transaction 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 approximately $2,658,346.32. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MannKind

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in MannKind by 51.5% during the third 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. EcoR1 Capital LLC acquired a new position in MannKind in the 4th quarter worth about $9,412,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in MannKind by 1.4% in 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. Deltec Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MannKind by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 974,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,527,000 after purchasing an additional 251,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MannKind during the 4th quarter worth about $6,805,000. 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).