Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD)

by · The Cerbat Gem

MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD – Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 6,849 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 66% compared to the average daily volume of 4,126 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MNKD. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of MannKind from $3.50 to $4.75 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MannKind from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $11.00 price target on shares of MannKind and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research downgraded MannKind from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on MannKind from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MannKind currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.97.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MannKind

MannKind Price Performance

MannKind stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $4.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,002,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,559,426. MannKind has a 52-week low of $2.23 and a 52-week high of $6.51. The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of -57.35 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $3.74 and its 200 day moving average is $3.94.

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $90.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.38 million. MannKind had a negative net margin of 6.63% and a negative return on equity of 11.21%. MannKind’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.04 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that MannKind will post -0.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MannKind

In related news, Director Steven B. Binder sold 16,940 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.29, for a total transaction of $55,732.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 808,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,658,346.32. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MannKind

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MannKind by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,880,873 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,385,000 after acquiring an additional 250,290 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in MannKind by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,623,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $82,914,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883,071 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP purchased a new position in MannKind in the third quarter valued at about $61,297,000. UBS Group AG grew its stake in MannKind by 146.7% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in MannKind by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,953,295 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,134,000 after purchasing an additional 509,692 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.55% of the company’s stock.

MannKind Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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).

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