Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on RIGL. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research raised Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rigel Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.67.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:RIGL opened at $25.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a current ratio of 2.42. The company has a market cap of $479.30 million, a PE ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.10. Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $15.50 and a 52 week high of $52.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.77.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The biotechnology company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.19). Rigel Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 79.84% and a net margin of 124.72%.The firm had revenue of $69.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.70 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Rigel Pharmaceuticals will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rigel Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Walter H. Moos sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.36, for a total transaction of $145,440.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,571.92. This represents a 23.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 9.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 234.8% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 1,773.3% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 2,660 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 400.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,275 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. 66.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Rigel Pharmaceuticals

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).