Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $3.35, but opened at $3.52. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $3.52, with a volume of 114,390 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IRWD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Craig Hallum lowered their price target on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Capital One Financial lowered shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $12.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.40.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 4.3 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.24. The stock has a market cap of $587.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -117.33 and a beta of 0.47.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $91.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.22 million. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 0.96% and a negative net margin of 0.65%. The business’s revenue was down 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Sravan Kumar Emany sold 11,001 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total transaction of $44,884.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 309,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,263,053.76. This represents a 3.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 59.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,593 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 55.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 2,345 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Trading LLC bought a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000.

About Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

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.