Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,750,000 shares, a growth of 13.8% from the January 15th total of 9,450,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,880,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Currently, 6.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Michael Shetzline sold 41,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $72,633.44. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 554,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,052.32. The trade was a 6.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas A. Mccourt sold 139,064 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $244,752.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,160,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,042,715.84. The trade was a 10.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 192,381 shares of company stock worth $338,591. Company insiders own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,730,771 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $51,967,000 after buying an additional 450,949 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,919,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $40,870,000 after purchasing an additional 677,024 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 23.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,904,271 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,846,000 after purchasing an additional 364,841 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 25.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 169,681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 34,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $893,000.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 4.5 %

IRWD stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $1.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,151,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,572,680. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $3.54 and its 200-day moving average is $4.08. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $1.59 and a 12 month high of $15.65. The company has a market cap of $307.26 million, a PE ratio of -64.00 and a beta of 0.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Craig Hallum dropped their price target on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JMP Securities cut their target price on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.60.

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.