Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on IRWD. JMP Securities cut their price target on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Craig Hallum cut their price target on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.60.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IRWD traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $1.51. 1,740,323 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,427,487. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $1.34 and a 12-month high of $9.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $2.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $241.64 million, a PE ratio of -50.33 and a beta of 0.37.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.08). Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 0.65% and a negative return on equity of 0.96%. The firm had revenue of $90.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.85 million. Research analysts anticipate that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CMO Michael Shetzline sold 41,269 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total value of $72,633.44. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 554,007 shares in the company, valued at $975,052.32. This represents a 6.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas A. Mccourt sold 139,064 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $244,752.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,160,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,042,715.84. The trade was a 10.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 192,381 shares of company stock worth $338,591 over the last 90 days. 12.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRWD. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 26.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,279,822 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,473,000 after buying an additional 2,372,183 shares during the period. Stonepine Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 1,982.8% during the third quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC now owns 1,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,120,000 after buying an additional 951,988 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,919,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $40,870,000 after buying an additional 677,024 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,567,535 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,944,000 after buying an additional 504,336 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 9,066,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $40,163,000 after buying an additional 469,043 shares during the period.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a healthcare company, focuses on the development and commercialization of gastrointestinal (GI) products. It markets linaclotide, a guanylate cyclase type-C (GC-C) agonist for the treatment of adults suffering from irritable bowel syndrome with constipation or chronic idiopathic constipation under the LINZESS name in the United States, Mexico, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and China, as well as under the CONSTELLA name in the Canada and European countries.