Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Craig Hallum lowered their target price on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.60.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $1.49 on Thursday. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $1.34 and a 1 year high of $9.23. The company has a market capitalization of $238.44 million, a P/E ratio of -49.67 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s fifty day moving average is $2.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.62.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $90.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.85 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Thomas A. Mccourt sold 139,064 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total value 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 trade represents a 10.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Michael Shetzline sold 41,269 shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 192,381 shares of company stock worth $338,591 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRWD. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 194.9% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 351,193 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,447,000 after acquiring an additional 232,087 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 59.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,593 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 3,198 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 10.8% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 662,934 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,731,000 after buying an additional 64,353 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 150.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 126,289 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 75,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $181,000.

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.