Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) Receives $3.68 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $3.6750.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 1st. Craig Hallum raised Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $8.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $3.00 to $5.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IRWD stock opened at $4.84 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.52. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $0.53 and a 1-year high of $5.78. The firm has a market cap of $787.37 million, a P/E ratio of 30.25 and a beta of 0.17.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IRWD. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 535.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,523,875 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,126,889 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 186.6% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,359,682 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,349,000 after buying an additional 4,140,439 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $57,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 72.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,575,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,316,000 after buying an additional 660,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 740.5% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 3,510,117 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,160,000 after buying an additional 3,092,475 shares during the period.

About Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

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.