Short Interest in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) Rises By 13.8%

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,750,000 shares, an increase of 13.8% from the January 15th total of 9,450,000 shares. Approximately 6.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,880,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on IRWD shares. Craig Hallum decreased their target price on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Thomas A. Mccourt sold 139,064 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $244,752.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,160,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,042,715.84. This represents a 10.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Michael Shetzline sold 41,269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $72,633.44. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 554,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $975,052.32. This represents a 6.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 192,381 shares of company stock worth $338,591 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,730,771 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $51,967,000 after purchasing an additional 450,949 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,919,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $40,870,000 after purchasing an additional 677,024 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 9,066,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $40,163,000 after purchasing an additional 469,043 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,306,570 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,652,000 after purchasing an additional 13,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,983,240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,786,000 after purchasing an additional 78,969 shares in the last quarter.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IRWD traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $1.92. 2,151,349 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,572,680. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $1.59 and a 52 week high of $15.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.08. The company has a market cap of $307.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -64.00 and a beta of 0.29.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.