Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Hits New 1-Year Low After Insider Selling

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $3.70 and last traded at $3.73, with a volume of 53965 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $3.81.

Specifically, CFO Sravan Kumar Emany sold 11,001 shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total value of $44,884.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 309,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,263,053.76. The trade was a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on IRWD shares. StockNews.com cut Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Capital One Financial cut Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $12.00 to $4.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $5.00 target price for the company. Finally, Craig Hallum cut their price target on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.40.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $534.49 million, a PE ratio of -111.33 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.38.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.07). Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 0.96% and a negative net margin of 0.65%. The firm had revenue of $91.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of 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. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 55.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 2,345 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Trading LLC acquired a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $59,000.

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.