Pacer Advisors Inc. Makes New $3.98 Million Investment in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IRWD

Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 1,134,512 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,982,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 248.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,695,544 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,321,000 after purchasing an additional 8,337,672 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 186.6% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,359,682 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,349,000 after purchasing an additional 4,140,439 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 144.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,165,637 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,422,000 after buying an additional 3,641,762 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,975,939 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,769,000 after buying an additional 58,603 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,424,002 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,909,000 after buying an additional 1,279,863 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on IRWD. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ronald Silver sold 127,890 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.52, for a total transaction of $578,062.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 313,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,417,833.60. This represents a 28.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Julie Mchugh sold 21,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.73, for a total transaction of $80,459.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 250,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $935,293.77. The trade was a 7.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.7%

IRWD opened at $4.26 on Friday. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $0.81 and a 52 week high of $5.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.96. The firm has a market cap of $694.64 million, a P/E ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 0.20.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.01). Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 28.26% and a negative return on equity of 39.65%. The firm had revenue of $113.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.84 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

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.