Short Interest in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) Expands By 13.8%

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,750,000 shares, an increase of 13.8% from the January 15th total of 9,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,880,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Currently, 6.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on IRWD shares. Craig Hallum cut their price objective on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JMP Securities cut 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Michael Shetzline sold 41,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 554,007 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas A. Mccourt sold 139,064 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,160,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,042,715.84. This represents a 10.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 192,381 shares of company stock worth $338,591 over the last ninety days. 12.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 59.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,593 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 33,932 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 3,209 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 12.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 42,151 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 4,749 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 40.0% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 19,191 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 5,482 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 282,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,252,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the period.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IRWD traded down $0.09 during trading on Monday, reaching $1.92. The stock had a trading volume of 2,151,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,572,680. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $1.59 and a 52 week high of $15.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $307.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -64.00 and a beta of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.08.

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.