Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) Short Interest Update

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,080,000 shares, an increase of 7.7% from the November 30th total of 11,220,000 shares. Currently, 7.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on IRWD. StockNews.com cut shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Leerink Partners started coverage on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $5.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.40.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ IRWD opened at $4.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $708.92 million, a PE ratio of -147.67 and a beta of 0.41. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $3.06 and a 12-month high of $15.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $4.00 and a 200 day moving average of $4.81.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $91.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.22 million. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 0.65% and a negative return on equity of 0.96%. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Sravan Kumar Emany sold 11,001 shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total value of $44,884.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 309,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,263,053.76. This trade represents a 3.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 12.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,919,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $40,870,000 after purchasing an additional 677,024 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,904,271 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,846,000 after buying an additional 364,841 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 25.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 169,681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 34,089 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $893,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 1,293.6% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 380,960 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,570,000 after acquiring an additional 353,624 shares during the last quarter.

About Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a healthcare company, focuses on the development and commercialization of gastrointestinal (GI) products. It markets linaclotide, a guanylate cyclase type-C (GC-C) agonist for the treatment of adults suffering from irritable bowel syndrome with constipation or chronic idiopathic constipation under the LINZESS name in the United States, Mexico, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and China, as well as under the CONSTELLA name in the Canada and European countries.