Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Trading Up 4.6% – Still a Buy?

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD)’s stock price shot up 4.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $3.64 and last traded at $3.61. 283,088 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 2,823,208 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IRWD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $5.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.40.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 12.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $620.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -129.33 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.98 and a 200 day moving average of $4.94.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $91.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Sravan Kumar Emany sold 11,001 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total transaction of $44,884.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 309,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,263,053.76. This represents 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 accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 26.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,279,822 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,473,000 after acquiring an additional 2,372,183 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,919,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $40,870,000 after purchasing an additional 677,024 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 20.7% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,571,898 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,889,000 after buying an additional 1,472,097 shares during the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 44.4% in the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 7,800,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $50,856,000 after buying an additional 2,400,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 23.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,904,271 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,846,000 after buying an additional 364,841 shares in the last quarter.

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.