Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Trading Up 3.9% – Here’s What Happened

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD)’s stock price was up 3.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $3.48 and last traded at $3.48. Approximately 707,252 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 2,876,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.35.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $574.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -119.00 and a beta of 0.47.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $91.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.22 million. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 0.65% and a negative return on equity of 0.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Sravan Kumar Emany sold 11,001 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total transaction of $44,884.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 309,572 shares in the company, valued at $1,263,053.76. This represents a 3.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IRWD. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 1,293.6% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 380,960 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,570,000 after acquiring an additional 353,624 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,041,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,787,000 after purchasing an additional 177,500 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,279,822 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $46,473,000 after buying an additional 2,372,183 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,571,898 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,889,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 42,151 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 4,749 shares during the period.

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.