Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $24.24, but opened at $27.18. Rigel Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $28.56, with a volume of 461,186 shares trading hands.

The biotechnology company reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $1.31. Rigel Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.51% and a return on equity of 4,065.15%. The business had revenue of $101.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.58 million.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RIGL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,012,931 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,038,000 after buying an additional 27,640 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $197,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 587.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 180,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,036,000 after purchasing an additional 154,254 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,178,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $588,000. 66.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 23.0%

The company has a market capitalization of $532.70 million, a P/E ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a current ratio of 2.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.13 and its 200-day moving average is $19.86.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, engages in discovering, developing, and providing therapies that enhance the lives of patients with hematologic disorders and cancer. The company’s commercialized products include Tavalisse, an oral spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia; Rezlidhia, a non-intensive monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a susceptible isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test; and GAVRETO, a once daily, small molecule, oral, kinase inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic rearranged during transfection (RET) fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer, as well as for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with advanced or metastatic RET fusion-positive thyroid cancer.