Inspire Investing LLC Takes Position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $RIGL

Key Points

• Inspire Investing LLC opened a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter, buying 63,891 shares worth about $1.73 million and holding roughly 0.35% of the company.
• Rigel’s stock was up slightly to $39.12, but the company recently reported earnings below expectations for the quarter, posting $0.44 EPS versus the $0.80 consensus and revenue of $58.82 million versus $62.40 million expected.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the stock has a consensus rating of Hold with an average price target of $54.50, while recent opinions ranged from buy ratings by Citigroup and HC Wainwright to downgrades from Zacks Research and Wall Street Zen.

Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 63,891 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,728,000. Inspire Investing LLC owned about 0.35% of Rigel Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 96.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,091,223 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $46,737,000 after acquiring an additional 536,905 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 836,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $35,806,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 613,600 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $26,280,000 after purchasing an additional 12,267 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 390.8% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 544,282 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $23,312,000 after purchasing an additional 433,382 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 539,009 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $23,086,000 after purchasing an additional 64,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.23% of the company's stock.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.2%

Rigel Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $39.12 on Wednesday. Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.24 and a 52 week high of $52.24. The stock has a market cap of $723.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.20. The company's 50-day moving average price is $31.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $58.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.40 million. Rigel Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 47.99% and a net margin of 121.50%. On average, analysts expect that Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 price objective (up from $69.00) on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $54.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rigel Pharmaceuticals news, Director Kamil Ali-Jackson sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $87,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,125 shares in the company, valued at $354,375. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 10.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).

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