StockNews.com Downgrades Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) to Hold

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on IRWD. JMP Securities dropped their target price on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Craig Hallum dropped their price objective on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.60.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IRWD opened at $1.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $244.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.00 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.52. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $1.34 and a 52-week high of $9.23.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.08). Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 0.65% and a negative return on equity of 0.96%. The business had revenue of $90.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.85 million. On average, analysts predict that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.1 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ironwood Pharmaceuticals news, CMO Michael Shetzline sold 41,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $72,633.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 554,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $975,052.32. The trade was a 6.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas A. Mccourt sold 139,064 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $244,752.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,160,634 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 192,381 shares of company stock worth $338,591 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $46,473,000 after acquiring an additional 2,372,183 shares in the last quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 1,982.8% in the third quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC now owns 1,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,120,000 after purchasing an additional 951,988 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,567,535 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,944,000 after purchasing an additional 504,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 9,066,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $40,163,000 after buying an additional 469,043 shares during the period.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.