Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) Short Interest Update

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,250,000 shares, an increase of 34.9% from the February 28th total of 12,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days. Currently, 10.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on IRWD shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. JMP Securities reduced their target price on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Craig Hallum decreased their price target on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Michael Shetzline sold 41,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total value of $72,633.44. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 554,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,052.32. The trade was a 6.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Thomas A. Mccourt sold 139,064 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $244,752.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,160,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,042,715.84. The trade was a 10.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 192,381 shares of company stock worth $338,591. Company insiders own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,919,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $40,870,000 after purchasing an additional 677,024 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,567,535 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,944,000 after purchasing an additional 504,336 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 9,066,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $40,163,000 after buying an additional 469,043 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,730,771 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $51,967,000 after buying an additional 450,949 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,888,000.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IRWD traded down $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $1.40. The company had a trading volume of 123,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,414,017. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $1.32 and a 52 week high of $8.56. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $1.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.33. The stock has a market cap of $223.24 million, a PE ratio of -46.50 and a beta of 0.37.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.08). Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 0.96% and a negative net margin of 0.65%. The company had revenue of $90.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.85 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

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.