Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) Short Interest Update

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,439,339 shares, a growth of 21.8% from the December 15th total of 2,824,418 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 588,760 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days. Currently, 20.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Currently, 20.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 588,760 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rigel Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 234.8% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 1,773.3% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 2,660 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. 66.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.20.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of RIGL stock opened at $36.34 on Wednesday. Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $15.50 and a 12 month high of $52.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 2.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $659.57 million, a P/E ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.02.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.53. Rigel Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 204.70% and a net margin of 40.17%.The company had revenue of $69.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.88 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Rigel Pharmaceuticals will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Founded in 2003, Rigel focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel small molecule therapeutics targeting immune, hematologic and oncologic diseases. Leveraging a proprietary chemistry platform and expertise in signal transduction pathways, the company aims to address significant unmet medical needs in both rare and common disorders.

Rigel’s lead product, fostamatinib (commercially known as Tavalisse®), is an oral spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) inhibitor approved in the United States for the treatment of adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).