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

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $4.9250.

IRWD has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Citigroup upgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Citizens Jmp increased their target price on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th.

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 that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.05, for a total transaction of $20,528,940.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,188,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,025,336.75. This trade represents a 42.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 12.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 248.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,695,544 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,321,000 after acquiring an additional 8,337,672 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 186.6% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,359,682 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,349,000 after purchasing an additional 4,140,439 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 144.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,165,637 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,422,000 after purchasing an additional 3,641,762 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 616.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,993,557 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,875,000 after purchasing an additional 3,436,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 740.5% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 3,510,117 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,160,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092,475 shares in the last quarter.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IRWD opened at $3.51 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.18. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $0.53 and a one year high of $5.78. The firm has a market cap of $572.34 million, a PE ratio of 27.00 and a beta of 0.24.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $47.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.10 million. Equities research analysts predict that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.