Rigel Pharmaceuticals Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:RIGL)

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 25,860 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 9,549% compared to the typical volume of 268 put options.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $0.79 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1.00 and a 200 day moving average of $1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.58 and a beta of 1.04. Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $0.71 and a fifty-two week high of $1.73.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $29.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. Analysts forecast that Rigel Pharmaceuticals will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on RIGL shares. B. Riley reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $1.25 price objective on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $2.00 to $3.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.81.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rigel Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RIGL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,367,424 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,864,000 after acquiring an additional 414,207 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,465,183 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,086,000 after buying an additional 843,419 shares during the period. CM Management LLC lifted its holdings in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. CM Management LLC now owns 2,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,960,000 after buying an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,012,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 170.9% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 971,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after buying an additional 612,815 shares during the period. 66.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, engages in discovering, developing, and providing therapies that enhance the lives of patients with hematologic disorders and cancer. The company's commercialized products include Tavalisse, an oral spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia; Rezlidhia, a non-intensive monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a susceptible isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test; and GAVRETO, a once daily, small molecule, oral, kinase inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic rearranged during transfection (RET) fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer, as well as for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with advanced or metastatic RET fusion-positive thyroid cancer.