Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,439,339 shares, a growth of 21.8% from the December 15th total of 2,824,418 shares. Currently, 20.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 588,760 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days. Based on an average trading volume of 588,760 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days. Currently, 20.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.20.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RIGL traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $37.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 275,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 552,456. The firm has a market capitalization of $680.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.77. Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $15.50 and a one year high of $52.24.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $69.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.88 million. Rigel Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 40.17% and a return on equity of 204.70%. On average, research analysts forecast that Rigel Pharmaceuticals will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RIGL. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 27,065 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 45,938 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 234.8% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 41,771 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,183,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 11,366 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 1,464 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.23% of the company’s stock.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Founded in 2003, Rigel focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel small molecule therapeutics targeting immune, hematologic and oncologic diseases. Leveraging a proprietary chemistry platform and expertise in signal transduction pathways, the company aims to address significant unmet medical needs in both rare and common disorders.

Rigel’s lead product, fostamatinib (commercially known as Tavalisse®), is an oral spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) inhibitor approved in the United States for the treatment of adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).