Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $6.2333.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Julie Mchugh sold 21,571 shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.73, for a total transaction of $80,459.83. Following the transaction, the director owned 250,749 shares in the company, valued at $935,293.77. The trade was a 7.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IRWD. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 535.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,523,875 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,126,889 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 186.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,359,682 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,349,000 after buying an additional 4,140,439 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $57,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 72.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,575,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,316,000 after buying an additional 660,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 740.5% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 3,510,117 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,160,000 after buying an additional 3,092,475 shares during the period.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IRWD opened at $4.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $706.05 million, a PE ratio of 7.22 and a beta of 0.20. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $0.67 and a twelve month high of $5.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $3.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.91.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 28.26% and a negative return on equity of 39.65%. The business had revenue of $106.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.11 million. As a group, analysts predict that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a commercial‐stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines for gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. The company’s flagship product is linaclotide, marketed under the brand name LINZESS in the United States for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) and chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC). Through a strategic collaboration with Allergan (now part of AbbVie), Ironwood also commercializes linaclotide in select ex-U.S.