Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Cut to Hold at Craig Hallum

Craig Hallum lowered shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on IRWD. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $0.70 price objective (down previously from $8.00) on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $1.00 price objective (down previously from $7.00) on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Citizens Jmp cut Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $3.00 to $1.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.78.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IRWD opened at $0.73 on Wednesday. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $0.59 and a 12-month high of $8.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.31 million, a P/E ratio of -24.17 and a beta of 0.30.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $90.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.85 million. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 0.96% and a negative net margin of 0.65%. As a group, research analysts predict that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CMO Michael Shetzline sold 41,269 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 554,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $975,052.32. This represents a 6.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Thomas A. Mccourt sold 139,064 shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $244,752.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,160,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,042,715.84. This represents a 10.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 192,381 shares of company stock worth $338,591 in the last 90 days. 12.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 173.5% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 178,523 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 113,245 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $45,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $1,888,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 286,990 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 17,265 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.