Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning.

Separately, Craig Hallum cut their target price on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $18.40.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:IRWD opened at $6.72 on Tuesday. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $5.47 and a twelve month high of $15.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $6.32 and a 200-day moving average of $9.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.99 and a beta of 0.52.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.20). Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 28.45% and a negative net margin of 254.41%. The firm had revenue of $74.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $105.75 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ironwood Pharmaceuticals news, Director Julie Mchugh sold 22,766 shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.29, for a total transaction of $143,198.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 139,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $877,631.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Julie Mchugh sold 22,766 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.29, for a total transaction of $143,198.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 139,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $877,631.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine Moukheibir sold 44,426 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.36, for a total value of $282,549.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 84,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $535,556.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IRWD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,521,366 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $170,031,000 after purchasing an additional 3,487,821 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 5,700,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,208,000 after acquiring an additional 2,244,000 shares in the last quarter. Kynam Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $14,154,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 40.8% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,235,580 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $36,892,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226,377 shares during the period. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $7,521,000.

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.