Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,350,000 shares, a growth of 140.8% from the January 31st total of 560,700 shares. Approximately 7.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 254,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 5.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ RIGL opened at $23.06 on Friday. Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $7.48 and a one year high of $29.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $406.20 million, a PE ratio of 164.73 and a beta of 1.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RIGL. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com cut Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. B. Riley boosted their target price on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Dean L. Schorno sold 2,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.92, for a total value of $42,593.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 58,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,631.48. This represents a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David A. Santos sold 2,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.92, for a total value of $44,455.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,220. This represents a 3.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,113 shares of company stock worth $190,644 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 44.5% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,603 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 2,648 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,429 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,827 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $170,000. Finally, Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC purchased a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $181,000. 66.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Rigel Pharmaceuticals

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.