Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) Shares Up 9.8% – Time to Buy?

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) shares shot up 9.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $32.67 and last traded at $32.2350. 137,041 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 378,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RIGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price (up from $69.00) on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Rigel Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.50.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $590.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $28.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.36). Rigel Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 47.99% and a net margin of 121.50%.The firm had revenue of $58.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.40 million. Equities analysts forecast that Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Rigel Pharmaceuticals

In other Rigel Pharmaceuticals news, Director Walter H. Moos sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.36, for a total value of $145,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,722 shares in the company, valued at $462,571.92. This represents a 23.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 10.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rigel Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $251,000. Pale Fire Capital SE purchased a new stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $385,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 30,192 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $816,000 after buying an additional 3,399 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 66,669 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,803,000 after buying an additional 1,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 379,541 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $10,259,000 after buying an additional 102,729 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.23% of the company’s stock.

About Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Founded in 2003, Rigel focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel small molecule therapeutics targeting immune, hematologic and oncologic diseases. Leveraging a proprietary chemistry platform and expertise in signal transduction pathways, the company aims to address significant unmet medical needs in both rare and common disorders.

Rigel’s lead product, fostamatinib (commercially known as Tavalisse®), is an oral spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) inhibitor approved in the United States for the treatment of adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).