Stonepine Capital Management LLC Buys 951,988 Shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD)

Stonepine Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) by 1,982.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 951,988 shares during the quarter. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals accounts for about 2.6% of Stonepine Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Stonepine Capital Management LLC owned 0.63% of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals worth $4,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 59.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,593 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 3,198 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 55.1% during 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 during the period. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 344.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,526 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 8,156 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction of $44,884.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 this link. 12.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IRWD traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $3.52. The stock had a trading volume of 2,563,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,689,625. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.24. The firm has a market cap of $563.31 million, a P/E ratio of -117.33 and a beta of 0.47. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.26 and a fifty-two week high of $15.70.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.