Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 9,043 Shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) by 70.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,809 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,043 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Rigel Pharmaceuticals were worth $367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 587.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 180,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,036,000 after acquiring an additional 154,254 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 814.5% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 170,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,861,000 after purchasing an additional 151,500 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,178,000. Globeflex Capital L P lifted its stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 468.4% in the 4th quarter. Globeflex Capital L P now owns 52,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $880,000 after purchasing an additional 43,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 139,128 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,340,000 after buying an additional 41,122 shares in the last quarter. 66.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Rigel Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Dean L. Schorno sold 2,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.92, for a total transaction of $42,593.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 58,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,631.48. The trade was a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David A. Santos sold 2,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.92, for a total value of $44,455.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,220. This represents a 3.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,113 shares of company stock valued at $190,644. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Rigel Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $16.85 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $19.37 and its 200 day moving average is $19.44. Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $7.48 and a one year high of $29.82. The firm has a market cap of $301.06 million, a P/E ratio of 120.37 and a beta of 1.32.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.50. Rigel Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 2.46% and a negative return on equity of 14.80%. The company had revenue of $57.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.59 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RIGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. B. Riley upped their price objective on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three 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 an average target price of $36.80.

About Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, engages in discovering, developing, and providing therapies that enhance the lives of patients with hematologic disorders and cancer. The company’s commercialized products include Tavalisse, an oral spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia; Rezlidhia, a non-intensive monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a susceptible isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test; and GAVRETO, a once daily, small molecule, oral, kinase inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic rearranged during transfection (RET) fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer, as well as for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with advanced or metastatic RET fusion-positive thyroid cancer.