Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) Shares Up 8.4% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) rose 8.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $47.70 and last traded at $46.91. Approximately 135,705 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 380,874 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on RIGL shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.20.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 8.4%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $851.69 million, a P/E ratio of 7.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.53. Rigel Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 40.17% and a return on equity of 204.70%. The company had revenue of $69.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.88 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RIGL. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 234.8% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 1,773.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 2,660 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Institutional investors own 66.23% of the company’s stock.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Founded in 2003, Rigel focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel small molecule therapeutics targeting immune, hematologic and oncologic diseases. Leveraging a proprietary chemistry platform and expertise in signal transduction pathways, the company aims to address significant unmet medical needs in both rare and common disorders.

Rigel’s lead product, fostamatinib (commercially known as Tavalisse®), is an oral spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) inhibitor approved in the United States for the treatment of adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).