Brokerages Set Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) Target Price at $8.60

Shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $4.78.

Several research firms recently issued reports on IRWD. Craig Hallum dropped their price target on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citizens Jmp downgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. JMP Securities decreased their target price on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $3.00 to $1.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IRWD opened at $0.73 on Friday. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $0.59 and a 12-month high of $8.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.31 million, a PE ratio of -24.17 and a beta of 0.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.04.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $90.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.85 million. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 0.65% and a negative return on equity of 0.96%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Michael Shetzline sold 41,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total value of $72,633.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 554,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,052.32. The trade was a 6.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Thomas A. Mccourt sold 139,064 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total value of $244,752.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,160,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,042,715.84. This trade represents a 10.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 192,381 shares of company stock valued at $338,591 in the last three months. Insiders own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IRWD. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 33,932 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 3,209 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 40.0% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 19,191 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 5,482 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 282,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,252,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 42,893 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $190,000 after acquiring an additional 7,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $36,000.

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.