Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on IRWD. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $0.70 price objective (down previously from $8.00) on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. Citizens Jmp cut Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Craig Hallum decreased their price objective on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $3.00 to $1.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $1.00 price target (down previously from $7.00) on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.78.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 11.5 %

NASDAQ:IRWD opened at $0.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.08. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $0.59 and a 12-month high of $8.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.86 million, a P/E ratio of -24.07 and a beta of 0.30.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.08). Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 0.65% and a negative return on equity of 0.96%. The company had revenue of $90.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.85 million. On average, research analysts predict that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Thomas A. Mccourt sold 139,064 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $244,752.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,160,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,042,715.84. The trade was a 10.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Michael Shetzline sold 41,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $72,633.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 554,007 shares in the company, valued at $975,052.32. This represents a 6.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 192,381 shares of company stock worth $338,591 over the last three months. 12.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 33,932 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 3,209 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 19,191 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 5,482 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 282,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,252,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 42,893 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $190,000 after buying an additional 7,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000.

About Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

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.