Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on IRWD. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research lowered Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $3.70 price objective on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.23.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IRWD opened at $3.58 on Friday. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $0.53 and a twelve month high of $5.78. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3.74 and its 200 day moving average is $3.73. The company has a market cap of $583.75 million, a PE ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 0.29.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 39.65% and a net margin of 28.26%.The business had revenue of $106.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.11 million. Equities research analysts predict that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Alexander J. Denner sold 6,730,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.05, for a total transaction of $20,528,940.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,188,635 shares in the company, valued at $28,025,336.75. This trade represents a 42.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a commercial‐stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines for gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. The company’s flagship product is linaclotide, marketed under the brand name LINZESS in the United States for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) and chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC). Through a strategic collaboration with Allergan (now part of AbbVie), Ironwood also commercializes linaclotide in select ex-U.S.