Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) Short Interest Update

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,250,000 shares, a growth of 34.9% from the February 28th total of 12,050,000 shares. Currently, 10.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Insider Transactions at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

In related news, 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 owns 1,160,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,042,715.84. This trade represents a 10.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $72,633.44. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 192,381 shares of company stock worth $338,591 in the last three months. Insiders own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,919,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $40,870,000 after buying an additional 677,024 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,904,271 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,846,000 after buying an additional 364,841 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 169,681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $699,000 after buying an additional 34,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $893,000.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IRWD traded down $0.02 on Wednesday, reaching $1.40. The company had a trading volume of 123,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,414,017. The company’s fifty day moving average is $1.95 and its 200-day moving average is $3.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.50 and a beta of 0.37. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $1.32 and a 1-year high of $8.56.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $90.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.85 million. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 0.96% and a negative net margin of 0.65%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on IRWD shares. Craig Hallum decreased their price target on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, JMP Securities dropped their price target on 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.60.

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.