First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stake in MannKind Corporation $MNKD

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) by 48.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 869,254 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 282,068 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.28% of MannKind worth $2,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in MannKind by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,623,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $82,914,000 after buying 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 $61,297,000. UBS Group AG raised 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 buying an additional 3,088,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in MannKind by 11.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,953,295 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,134,000 after buying an additional 509,692 shares in the last quarter. 49.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MannKind news, Director Steven B. Binder sold 16,940 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director directly owned 808,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,658,346.32. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 corporate insiders.

MannKind Stock Performance

NASDAQ MNKD opened at $4.11 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $3.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.77. MannKind Corporation has a one year low of $2.23 and a one year high of $6.51. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of -31.62 and a beta of 1.12.

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $90.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.38 million. MannKind had a negative return on equity of 11.21% and a negative net margin of 11.08%.MannKind’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.04 EPS. Research analysts predict that MannKind Corporation will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNKD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut MannKind from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MannKind in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded MannKind from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on MannKind from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on MannKind from $3.50 to $4.75 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.22.

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).