Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) Short Interest Up 22.7% in January

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 560,700 shares, a growth of 22.7% from the January 15th total of 456,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 301,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Dean L. Schorno sold 2,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.92, for a total transaction of $42,593.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 58,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,631.48. This trade represents a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David A. Santos sold 2,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.92, for a total value of $44,455.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,220. The trade was a 3.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,113 shares of company stock valued at $190,644 over the last 90 days. 9.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rigel Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $7,148,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 111.1% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 299,709 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,041,000 after acquiring an additional 157,763 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 587.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 180,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,036,000 after acquiring an additional 154,254 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 814.5% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 170,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,861,000 after buying an additional 151,500 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $2,178,000. 66.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on RIGL shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. B. Riley increased their price target on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup increased their price target on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.20.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of RIGL traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 194,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 262,255. Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $7.48 and a 1-year high of $29.82. The stock has a market cap of $379.85 million, a P/E ratio of 154.08 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.44.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, engages in discovering, developing, and providing therapies that enhance the lives of patients with hematologic disorders and cancer. The company’s commercialized products include Tavalisse, an oral spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia; Rezlidhia, a non-intensive monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a susceptible isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test; and GAVRETO, a once daily, small molecule, oral, kinase inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic rearranged during transfection (RET) fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer, as well as for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with advanced or metastatic RET fusion-positive thyroid cancer.