MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) Shares Gap Up After Insider Buying Activity

MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $2.61, but opened at $2.81. MannKind shares last traded at $2.7950, with a volume of 2,318,445 shares.

Specifically, CEO Michael Castagna bought 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 $6,671,609.49. This represents a 4.04% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MNKD shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of MannKind from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on MannKind from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial set a $9.00 price objective on MannKind in a report on Monday, November 24th. Leerink Partners started coverage on MannKind in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered MannKind from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.06.

MannKind Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $5.07 and a 200-day moving average of $5.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $868.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.07 and a beta of 0.83.

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) EPS 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 company had revenue of $111.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. MannKind’s quarterly revenue was up 45.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that MannKind Corporation will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MannKind

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in MannKind by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,333 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of MannKind by 1.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 162,217 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 2,201 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MannKind by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 200,763 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after buying an additional 2,355 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in shares of MannKind by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 33,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 2,404 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in MannKind by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,234 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 2,443 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.55% of the company’s stock.

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.