Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) Short Interest Up 21.8% in December

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,439,339 shares, an increase of 21.8% from the December 15th total of 2,824,418 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 588,760 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days. Approximately 20.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Approximately 20.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 588,760 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ RIGL traded down $1.05 on Tuesday, reaching $36.43. The stock had a trading volume of 109,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 493,888. The stock has a market cap of $661.19 million, a P/E ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 1.11. Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $15.50 and a 12-month high of $52.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $43.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.28.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Armistice Capital LLC grew its holdings in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% during the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,600,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,968,000 after acquiring an additional 84,000 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $389,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 64.0% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 36,215 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 14,135 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,286,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $859,000. 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).