Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) Trading Down 5.3% – Here’s What Happened

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) shares traded down 5.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $42.01 and last traded at $42.1440. 146,139 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 500,703 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $23.00 to $42.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.20.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 2.14. The firm has a market cap of $755.63 million, a P/E ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $42.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.71.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.53. Rigel Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 204.70% and a net margin of 40.17%.The company had revenue of $69.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.88 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in RIGL. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 63.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 601,333 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,036,000 after purchasing an additional 232,383 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 110.6% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 360,966 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $10,226,000 after buying an additional 189,542 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 50.1% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 565,045 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,161,000 after acquiring an additional 188,679 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 474.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 220,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,241,000 after acquiring an additional 181,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 747.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 186,326 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,279,000 after acquiring an additional 164,343 shares in the last quarter. 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).