Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.23.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 13.4%

IRWD stock opened at $4.23 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.98. The stock has a market cap of $689.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 0.20. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $0.71 and a fifty-two week high of $5.78.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $92.11 million. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 28.26% and a negative return on equity of 39.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 21.4% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 19,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 3,406 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000.

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.