Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) Shares Down 5.1% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Shares fell 5.1% to $30.65 on Wednesday with volume down about 55% versus the average session, and the stock now sits below its 200‑day SMA ($35.48) though near its 50‑day SMA ($30.24).
• Analysts are split: the consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $45.67 (three Buy, three Hold) and several recent rating changes including a downgrade by Wall Street Zen.
• Quarterly results showed EPS of $1.14, missing estimates by $0.19 while revenue of $69.8M slightly beat expectations; the company reports strong profitability (net margin 124.7%, ROE 79.8%), a market cap of ~$568M, low leverage, an insider sale of 4,000 shares, and ~66% institutional ownership.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL - Get Free Report) shares fell 5.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $30.60 and last traded at $30.6450. 165,364 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 370,553 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research raised Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.67.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $568.08 million, a PE ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.48.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The biotechnology company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.19). Rigel Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 124.72% and a return on equity of 79.84%. The firm had revenue of $69.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.70 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 4.25 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.36, for a total value of $145,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $462,571.92. The trade was a 23.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 10.47% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,310,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,235,000. Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $578,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 64.0% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 36,215 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 14,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,286,000. 66.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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