MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) CEO Buys $259,000.00 in Stock

MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) CEO Michael Castagna acquired 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 2,575,911 shares in the company, valued at $6,671,609.49. The trade was a 4.04% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Michael Castagna also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, December 17th, Michael Castagna sold 65,804 shares of MannKind stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.01, for a total value of $395,482.04.
• On Friday, December 12th, Michael Castagna sold 20,806 shares of MannKind stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.00, for a total value of $124,836.00.
• On Tuesday, December 16th, Michael Castagna sold 21,310 shares of MannKind stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.00, for a total transaction of $127,860.00.

MannKind Price Performance

Shares of MNKD traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $2.61. The company had a trading volume of 4,833,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,201,455. The company’s 50-day moving average is $5.13 and its 200-day moving average is $5.32. MannKind Corporation has a twelve month low of $2.52 and a twelve month high of $6.51. The company has a market capitalization of $804.14 million, a P/E ratio of 130.57 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 the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.04). MannKind had a negative return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 1.68%.The business had revenue of $111.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.85 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. MannKind’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that MannKind Corporation will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MNKD. Wall Street Zen downgraded MannKind from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on MannKind from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $3.50 price target (down from $7.50) on shares of MannKind in a report on Friday, February 27th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on MannKind in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of MannKind in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.06.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MannKind

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MannKind by 1.4% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of MannKind by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,623,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $82,914,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883,071 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of MannKind in the 3rd quarter valued at $61,297,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MannKind by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,617,583 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $28,494,000 after purchasing an additional 831,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its stake in MannKind by 146.7% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,194,739 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,896,000 after purchasing an additional 3,088,820 shares during the period. 49.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.