Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Trading Down 4.5% on Insider Selling

Shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) traded down 4.5% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $4.29 and last traded at $4.29. 304,170 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 3,459,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.49.

Specifically, insider Minardo John sold 9,910 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.27, for a total value of $42,315.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 284,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,215,502.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on IRWD. StockNews.com raised shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Craig Hallum reduced their price objective on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Capital One Financial downgraded shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $4.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.00.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $676.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.64 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average is $6.14 and its 200-day moving average is $8.35.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 907,225 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,379,000 after acquiring an additional 90,636 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 244.8% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 777,847 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,775,000 after acquiring an additional 552,227 shares in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,472,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,321,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $693,000.

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.