Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, with four holds, two buys and one strong buy among seven covering firms. The average 12-month price target is $6.23, versus a recent share price of $4.23.
• Ironwood’s latest quarterly results slightly missed expectations, reporting $0.31 in EPS versus the $0.32 consensus and revenue of $113.04 million versus $114.84 million expected.
• The stock has gained 1.4% and trades near its 52-week high, while insider Ronald Silver sold 127,890 shares worth approximately $578,000; institutional ownership activity was mixed, with several investors increasing their stakes.

Shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $6.2333.

IRWD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.4%

IRWD stock opened at $4.23 on Friday. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $1.26 and a twelve month high of $5.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $698.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.20. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $4.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.89.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ronald Silver sold 127,890 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.52, for a total value of $578,062.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 313,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,417,833.60. The trade was a 28.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IRWD. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 98,052 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 18,200 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 104.3% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 66,899 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 34,153 shares in the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 263.2% in the second quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 47,028 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 34,079 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 468,821 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,974,000 after acquiring an additional 15,306 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $252,000.

About Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a gastrointestinal-focused pharmaceutical company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines for gastrointestinal diseases and other disorders where significant unmet medical needs remain.

Ironwood's primary marketed product is LINZESS (linaclotide), an oral medication used to treat irritable bowel syndrome with constipation and chronic idiopathic constipation. The product was approved by the U.S.

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