Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Trading Down 9.4% – Time to Sell?

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) was down 9.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $3.83 and last traded at $3.7050. Approximately 250,639 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 3,819,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IRWD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Zacks Research lowered Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $3.70 price target on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.23.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $618.81 million, a PE ratio of 6.33 and a beta of 0.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $3.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.69.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 39.65% and a net margin of 28.26%.The business had revenue of $106.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.11 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 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 on 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,436,000. State of Wyoming increased its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 76.2% during the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 362,407 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 156,763 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $613,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $554,000.

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.