StockNews.com Upgrades Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) to Buy

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

IRWD has been the subject of several other research reports. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Craig Hallum lowered 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.60.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $1.41 on Friday. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $1.34 and a 52 week high of $8.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.00 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $2.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.39.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last posted its 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 return on equity of 0.96% and a negative net margin of 0.65%. The company had revenue of $90.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.85 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CMO Michael Shetzline sold 41,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total value of $72,633.44. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 554,007 shares in the company, valued at $975,052.32. This trade represents a 6.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas A. Mccourt sold 139,064 shares of the company’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 $244,752.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,160,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 192,381 shares of company stock valued at $338,591 in the last 90 days. 12.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000.

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.