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

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.40.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Craig Hallum cut their target price on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IRWD opened at $6.48 on Wednesday. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $5.47 and a 52 week high of $15.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $6.42 and its 200-day moving average is $9.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.95 and a beta of 0.52.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $74.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.75 million. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 28.45% and a negative net margin of 254.41%. The business’s revenue was down 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ironwood Pharmaceuticals news, Director Julie Mchugh sold 22,766 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.29, for a total transaction of $143,198.14. Following the transaction, the director now owns 139,528 shares in the company, valued at $877,631.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Catherine Moukheibir sold 44,426 shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.36, for a total transaction of $282,549.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 84,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $535,556.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Julie Mchugh sold 22,766 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.29, for a total value of $143,198.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 139,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $877,631.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,521,366 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $170,031,000 after purchasing an additional 3,487,821 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 5,700,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,208,000 after acquiring an additional 2,244,000 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 40.8% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,235,580 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $36,892,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226,377 shares during the last quarter. Kynam Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $14,154,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,288,653 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,742,000 after acquiring an additional 57,859 shares during the last quarter.

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.