Brokerages Set MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) Target Price at $9.06

MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.0625.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush dropped their target price on MannKind from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MannKind from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of MannKind from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MannKind from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $3.50 target price (down from $7.50) on shares of MannKind in a research note on Friday, February 27th.

MannKind Stock Up 3.7%

NASDAQ:MNKD opened at $2.54 on Thursday. MannKind has a 52 week low of $2.23 and a 52 week high of $6.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $4.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $782.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.06 and a beta of 1.04.

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.68% and a negative return on equity of 11.21%. The firm had revenue of $111.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 45.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MannKind will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MannKind

In related news, CEO Michael Castagna bought 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $2.59 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 2,575,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,671,609.49. This trade represents a 4.04% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stuart A. Tross sold 47,006 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.33, for a total value of $297,547.98. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 985,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,235,094.31. The trade was a 4.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MannKind

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MannKind by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,880,873 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $101,385,000 after buying an additional 250,290 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in MannKind by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,623,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $82,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,883,071 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP acquired a new position in MannKind during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,297,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MannKind by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,617,583 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $28,494,000 after acquiring an additional 831,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of MannKind by 146.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,194,739 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,896,000 after purchasing an additional 3,088,820 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.55% of the company’s stock.

MannKind Company Profile

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.