Brokerages Set MannKind Co. (NASDAQ:MNKD) Target Price at $9.07

MannKind Co. (NASDAQ:MNKD) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.07.

MNKD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of MannKind from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of MannKind from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $7.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of MannKind in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $9.00 target price for the company.

MannKind Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNKD opened at $6.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.29 and a beta of 1.29. MannKind has a 52 week low of $3.17 and a 52 week high of $7.63.

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04. MannKind had a net margin of 8.07% and a negative return on equity of 17.74%. The firm had revenue of $70.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.27 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MannKind will post 0.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at MannKind

In other news, Director Steven B. Binder sold 67,536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.89, for a total transaction of $465,323.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,075,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,406,929.14. This trade represents a 5.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Stuart A. Tross sold 55,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.34, for a total transaction of $403,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 967,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,099,181.94. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,075 shares of company stock valued at $1,325,587 over the last 90 days. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MannKind

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MNKD. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MannKind by 189.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,744,519 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,766,000 after purchasing an additional 3,107,598 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MannKind during the 3rd quarter worth $12,252,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of MannKind by 60.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,648,327 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,600 shares in the last quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of MannKind by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC now owns 3,304,085 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $20,783,000 after purchasing an additional 894,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of MannKind by 421.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 471,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,968,000 after purchasing an additional 381,298 shares in the last quarter. 49.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MannKind Company Profile

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.