Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,250,000 shares, a decline of 30.8% from the March 15th total of 16,250,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Approximately 7.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $3.00 to $1.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $0.70 price target (down from $8.00) on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Craig Hallum downgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.78.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ IRWD traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $0.73. The company had a trading volume of 3,326,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,563,595. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $0.59 and a 52 week high of $8.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1.44 and its 200-day moving average is $3.01. The stock has a market cap of $117.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.17 and a beta of 0.30.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $90.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.85 million. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 0.65% and a negative return on equity of 0.96%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Thomas A. Mccourt sold 139,064 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total value of $244,752.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,160,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,042,715.84. This trade represents a 10.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Michael Shetzline sold 41,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 554,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $975,052.32. This represents a 6.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 192,381 shares of company stock valued at $338,591 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IRWD. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,730,771 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $51,967,000 after purchasing an additional 450,949 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 buying an additional 677,024 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% during the fourth 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,306,570 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,652,000 after acquiring an additional 13,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,983,240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,786,000 after purchasing an additional 78,969 shares during the last quarter.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.