Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Stock Price Up 8.4% – Still a Buy?

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) was up 8.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $5.00 and last traded at $4.9650. Approximately 999,791 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 10,198,263 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $3.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.12.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 12.8%

The company has a market cap of $840.40 million, a P/E ratio of 32.35 and a beta of 0.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.11.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The biotechnology company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.15. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 15.17% and a net margin of 8.70%.The business had revenue of $122.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.22 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 0.1 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 21.4% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 19,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 3,406 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 83.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,331 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 15,594 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $48,000.

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.