Norges Bank Acquires New Stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD)

Norges Bank bought a new position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 252,291 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,118,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.16% of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of IRWD. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 450,949 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,919,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $40,870,000 after buying an additional 677,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,983,240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,786,000 after buying an additional 78,969 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 978,135 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,333,000 after buying an additional 65,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 765,356 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,391,000 after acquiring an additional 29,629 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on IRWD shares. StockNews.com upgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 29th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities decreased their target price on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Michael Shetzline sold 41,269 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 554,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $975,052.32. This trade represents a 6.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Thomas A. Mccourt sold 139,064 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 1,160,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,042,715.84. This represents a 10.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 192,381 shares of company stock valued at $338,591. 12.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IRWD opened at $0.95 on Friday. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $0.91 and a one year high of $8.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1.55 and a 200 day moving average of $3.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.99 million, a P/E ratio of -31.52 and a beta of 0.30.

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

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals 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.