Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Hits New 1-Year Low on Insider Selling

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $3.70 and last traded at $3.73, with a volume of 53965 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $3.81.

Specifically, CFO Sravan Kumar Emany sold 11,001 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total transaction of $44,884.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 309,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,263,053.76. This trade represents a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $5.00 price target for the company. Capital One Financial cut Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $12.00 to $4.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Craig Hallum dropped their target price on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com cut Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.40.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $4.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $534.49 million, a PE ratio of -111.33 and a beta of 0.47.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.07). Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 0.96% and a negative net margin of 0.65%. The business had revenue of $91.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRWD. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $91,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 45,770 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 5,930 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 38,883 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 2,917 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 339.4% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 195,057 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,699,000 after purchasing an additional 150,663 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,521,366 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $170,031,000 after purchasing an additional 3,487,821 shares during the period.

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.