Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) from a strong-buy rating to a strong sell rating in a report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

RIGL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $23.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.20.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ RIGL traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $37.91. The company had a trading volume of 43,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 466,439. Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $15.50 and a 52-week high of $52.24. The stock has a market cap of $688.07 million, a P/E ratio of 6.16 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.04.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.53. Rigel Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 204.70% and a net margin of 40.17%.The firm had revenue of $69.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.88 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Rigel Pharmaceuticals will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% in the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,600,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,968,000 after purchasing an additional 84,000 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 10.3% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 623,004 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,664,000 after acquiring an additional 57,959 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 63.0% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 601,333 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,036,000 after purchasing an additional 232,383 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 415,607 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,786,000 after purchasing an additional 4,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 110.6% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 360,966 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $10,226,000 after purchasing an additional 189,542 shares in the last quarter. 66.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).