Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $6.2333.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on IRWD. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Craig Hallum raised Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup raised Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IRWD traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $4.03. 97,450 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,976,479. The company has a fifty day moving average of $3.69 and a 200 day moving average of $3.51. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $0.53 and a twelve month high of $5.78. The company has a market capitalization of $656.48 million, a P/E ratio of 31.19 and a beta of 0.17.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.03). Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 8.11% and a negative return on equity of 13.72%. The business had revenue of $47.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.10 million. On average, research analysts expect that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Alexander J. Denner sold 6,730,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.05, for a total value of $20,528,940.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,188,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,025,336.75. This represents a 42.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 12.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 248.3% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,695,544 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,321,000 after purchasing an additional 8,337,672 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 186.6% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,359,682 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,349,000 after purchasing an additional 4,140,439 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 144.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,165,637 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,422,000 after purchasing an additional 3,641,762 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,975,939 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,769,000 after purchasing an additional 58,603 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,424,002 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,863 shares during the period.

About Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

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.