MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) Trading Up 5.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Shares rose about 5.5% intraday after Wells Fargo raised its price target from $7 to $8 and kept an overweight rating; the stock traded as high as $2.75 on unusually low volume.
• CEO Michael Castagna purchased 100,000 shares at $2.59 on March 10, increasing his holdings to 2,575,911 shares (a 4.04% bump), and insiders now own roughly 2.60% of the company.
• Analysts have a consensus Moderate Buy (7 Buys, 2 Holds, 1 Sell) with an average target of $8.69; MannKind reported Q4 revenue of $111.96M (up 45.8% YoY) but missed EPS estimates at -$0.05.

MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD - Get Free Report) shares rose 5.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $7.00 to $8.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. MannKind traded as high as $2.75 and last traded at $2.7750. Approximately 1,169,251 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 5,303,939 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.63.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MNKD. Zacks Research raised MannKind from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of MannKind from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of MannKind in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MannKind from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MannKind from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $8.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael Castagna purchased 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $2.59 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,575,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,671,609.49. This trade represents a 4.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of MannKind

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Krilogy Financial LLC acquired a new position in MannKind during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of MannKind by 108.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 5,636 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 2,927 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in MannKind in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in MannKind in the first quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in MannKind during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.55% of the company's stock.

MannKind Trading Up 5.1%

The business's 50 day moving average price is $3.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.68. The company has a market capitalization of $853.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.82 and a beta of 1.04.

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.04). MannKind had a negative return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 1.68%.The company had revenue of $111.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 45.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that MannKind Corporation will post -0.05 EPS for the current year.

About MannKind

MannKind Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company specialized in the development and commercialization of inhaled therapeutic products. The company's core business revolves around its proprietary Technosphere® drug‐delivery platform, which is designed to enable rapid absorption of small‐molecule drugs through pulmonary administration. MannKind's lead product, Afrezza®, is an inhaled insulin therapy intended for adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, offering users a rapid‐acting alternative to traditional injectable insulins.

Afrezza received U.S.

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