Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Shares Up 9.7% – Still a Buy?

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD)’s share price was up 9.7% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $3.85 and last traded at $3.8850. 1,233,905 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 3,507,903 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.54.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on IRWD. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Citizens Jmp boosted their target price on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, April 27th. 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 equities research 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, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.23.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $623.70 million, a P/E ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 0.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $3.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.88.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $106.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.11 million. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 28.26% and a negative return on equity of 39.65%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Julie Mchugh sold 21,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.73, for a total value of $80,459.83. Following the sale, the director owned 250,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $935,293.77. The trade was a 7.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 9.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IRWD. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 19,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 3,406 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $32,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000.

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.