Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Rating Lowered to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from “strong buy” to “buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with a $6.23 price target.
• Ironwood shares opened at $4.26, with a market capitalization of approximately $703.9 million. The company’s latest quarterly results slightly missed expectations, reporting $0.31 in EPS and $113.04 million in revenue.
• Insiders recently sold shares, including a 127,890-share sale by Ronald Silver, while institutional investors such as Dimensional Fund Advisors significantly increased their positions.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

IRWD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $6.23.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.7%

IRWD stock opened at $4.26 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.89. The stock has a market cap of $703.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.20. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $1.05 and a fifty-two week high of $5.78.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.01). Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 33.36% and a negative return on equity of 58.38%. The company had revenue of $113.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $114.84 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ronald Silver sold 127,890 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.52, for a total transaction of $578,062.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 313,680 shares in the company, valued at $1,417,833.60. This represents a 28.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Julie McHugh sold 21,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.73, for a total transaction of $80,459.83. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 250,749 shares in the company, valued at $935,293.77. The trade was a 7.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 9.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 529.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,082,055 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $7,307,000 after buying an additional 1,751,219 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $3,982,000. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,790,000. Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,094,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,897,000.

About Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a commercial‐stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines for gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. The company's flagship product is linaclotide, marketed under the brand name LINZESS in the United States for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) and chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC). Through a strategic collaboration with Allergan (now part of AbbVie), Ironwood also commercializes linaclotide in select ex-U.S.

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