Analyst Downgrades: MannKind Corp, Etsy and Monsanto

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings on MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD), Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY), and Monsanto Company (NASDAQ:MON)

May 11, 2015 at 9:39 AM

Analysts are weighing in today on biotech firm MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD), Wall Street newcomer Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY), and agricultural titan Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on MNKD, ETSY, and MON.

MNKD woke up to negative notes from J.P. Morgan Securities and MLV, with the former lowering its rating to "underweight" from "neutral," and the latter decreasing its target to $4 from $7 while reiterating a "hold" opinion. At last check, the shares of MannKind Corporation were 3.4% lower at $3.68, as the company continues to deal with the fallout from last week's lackluster earnings release. Looking back, the stock has been pressured by resistance at its 10-day moving average, with the shares down 30% year-to-date, after touching a two-year low of $3.52 in intraday action. Accordingly, put activity has been heating up in the options pits, as MNKD's 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio of 0.42 ranks in the 67th annual percentile. Elsewhere, short interest accounts for a staggering 37% of the security's available float, which would take nearly 29 sessions to cover, at average trading volumes.

The shares of ETSY are down 9.5% at $20.59 -- and hit an all-time low of $20.29 out of the gate -- after no fewer than three brokerage firms weighed in on the equity. Specifically, Wedbush lowered its rating to "underperform" from "neutral," while Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley both initiated coverage on Etsy Inc with $20 price-targets and "neutral" and "equal-weight" ratings, respectively. Technically speaking, the shares of ETSY have failed to impress, down 33% from their April 16 debut. However, options traders have shown a preference for calls over puts -- during the last 10 days at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX, 4.99 ETSY calls have been bought to open for every put.

Amid reports that MON could come back with a fresh offer for Syngenta AG (NYSE:SYT), brokerage firms weighed in on MON, including Moody's, which lowered its outlook to "negative" from "stable," and Wells Fargo, which lowered its rating to "market perform" from "outperform." Furthermore, Moody's said in a statement that its "negative outlook reflects heightened event risk at Monsanto, and funding uncertainty for any eventual deal." At last check, the shares of MON were fractionally lower at $120.76, but remain 1.1% higher year-to-date. Sentiment in the options pits has been bullish, as MON's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX call/put volume ratio of 1.56 is higher than 75% of all similar readings from the past year.

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