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

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 17,904,692 shares, an increase of 30.7% from the March 15th total of 13,703,587 shares. Approximately 12.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,832,392 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Alexander J. Denner sold 6,730,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.05, for a total transaction of $20,528,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,188,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,025,336.75. This represents a 42.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 12.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRWD. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 535.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,523,875 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,710,000 after buying an additional 2,126,889 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 186.6% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,359,682 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,349,000 after acquiring an additional 4,140,439 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $57,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 72.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,575,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,316,000 after acquiring an additional 660,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 740.5% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 3,510,117 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,160,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092,475 shares in the last quarter.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IRWD traded down $0.04 on Thursday, hitting $4.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,842,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,443,721. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $706.05 million, a P/E ratio of 33.31 and a beta of 0.17. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $0.53 and a 52-week high of $5.78.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.03). Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 8.11%.The firm had revenue of $47.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.10 million. Equities research analysts expect that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on IRWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $3.00 to $5.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Craig Hallum upgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $3.70 price target on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.23.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a commercial‐stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines for gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. The company’s flagship product is linaclotide, marketed under the brand name LINZESS in the United States for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) and chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC). Through a strategic collaboration with Allergan (now part of AbbVie), Ironwood also commercializes linaclotide in select ex-U.S.