Mizuho Begins Coverage on MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD)

Research analysts at Mizuho began coverage on shares of MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $12.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Mizuho’s price target suggests a potential upside of 159.46% from the stock’s previous close.

MNKD has been the topic of several other reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of MannKind in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded MannKind from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of MannKind from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $7.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of MannKind in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $9.00 price objective on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.56.

MannKind Price Performance

NASDAQ MNKD traded down $0.07 on Thursday, hitting $4.63. 362,846 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,088,364. MannKind has a twelve month low of $3.97 and a twelve month high of $7.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $5.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.07 and a beta of 1.22.

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03. MannKind had a net margin of 8.07% and a negative return on equity of 17.74%. The firm had revenue of $76.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.99 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that MannKind will post 0.1 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MannKind

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MNKD. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MannKind by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,194,704 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,039,000 after acquiring an additional 88,997 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in MannKind by 4.4% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 399,033 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,007,000 after purchasing an additional 16,807 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of MannKind by 146.6% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 80,218 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 47,690 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of MannKind in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in MannKind during the fourth quarter valued at about $111,000. 49.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.