KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys New Holdings in MannKind Co. (NASDAQ:MNKD)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in MannKind Co. (NASDAQ:MNKD) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 53,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of MannKind by 60.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,648,327 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,658,000 after buying an additional 1,000,600 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MannKind in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,209,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of MannKind by 186.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 519,865 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 338,121 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MannKind by 358.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 219,367 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 171,537 shares during the period. Finally, Carrera Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of MannKind in the fourth quarter worth about $1,023,000. Institutional investors own 49.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNKD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on MannKind in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $9.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised MannKind from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of MannKind from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $7.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of MannKind in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.21.

MannKind Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNKD opened at $4.74 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.71 and a beta of 1.22. MannKind Co. has a fifty-two week low of $3.97 and a fifty-two week high of $7.63.

MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03. MannKind had a net margin of 8.07% and a negative return on equity of 17.74%. The company had revenue of $76.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.99 million. As a group, research analysts predict that MannKind Co. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

MannKind Company Profile

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.