Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $4.47, but opened at $4.68. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $4.7780, with a volume of 636,097 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on IRWD shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.23.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.1%

The firm has a market capitalization of $761.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.78 and a beta of 0.20. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.95.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $106.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.11 million. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 39.65% and a net margin of 28.26%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ironwood Pharmaceuticals news, Director Julie Mchugh sold 21,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.73, for a total transaction of $80,459.83. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 250,749 shares in the company, valued at $935,293.77. This represents a 7.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ronald Silver sold 127,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.52, for a total value of $578,062.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 313,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,417,833.60. This represents a 28.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 9.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 248.3% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,695,544 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,321,000 after purchasing an additional 8,337,672 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 186.6% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,359,682 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,349,000 after buying an additional 4,140,439 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 144.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,165,637 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,422,000 after buying an additional 3,641,762 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,975,939 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,769,000 after buying an additional 58,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,424,002 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,909,000 after buying an additional 1,279,863 shares during the period.

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.