MannKind Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:MNKD)

MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 6,849 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 66% compared to the typical volume of 4,126 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on MannKind from $3.50 to $4.75 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on MannKind from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research lowered MannKind from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MannKind in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised MannKind from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.97.

Insider Buying and Selling at MannKind

In related news, Director Steven B. Binder sold 16,940 shares of MannKind 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 sale, the director directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MannKind

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MNKD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of MannKind by 51.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,047,869 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,997,000 after acquiring an additional 695,852 shares during the period. EcoR1 Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of MannKind in the 4th quarter worth about $9,412,000. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MannKind by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,291,703 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,332,759 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 worth $101,385,000 after purchasing an additional 250,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MannKind during the 4th quarter worth about $6,805,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.55% of the company’s stock.

MannKind Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ MNKD opened at $3.98 on Tuesday. MannKind has a twelve month low of $2.23 and a twelve month high of $6.51. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -56.85 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.93.

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). MannKind had a negative net margin of 6.63% and a negative return on equity of 11.21%. The company had revenue of $90.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that MannKind will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

About MannKind

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).