StockNews.com Upgrades MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

MNKD has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised MannKind from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $7.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of MannKind in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $9.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of MannKind in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.21.

MannKind Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of MannKind stock opened at $5.32 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.25. MannKind has a 12-month low of $3.97 and a 12-month high of $7.63. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.00 and a beta of 1.27.

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03. MannKind had a negative return on equity of 17.74% and a net margin of 8.07%. The business had revenue of $76.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.99 million. On average, analysts forecast that MannKind will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MannKind

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNKD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in MannKind by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,058,557 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $103,257,000 after acquiring an additional 420,334 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of MannKind by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,597,137 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $60,366,000 after purchasing an additional 40,338 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MannKind by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,374,274 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $40,996,000 after purchasing an additional 35,346 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of MannKind by 275.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,887,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,427,000 after purchasing an additional 3,587,484 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its position in MannKind by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 4,269,063 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,450,000 after buying an additional 798,469 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.55% of the company’s stock.

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.