Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on RIGL. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (up from $40.00) on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 17th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price (up from $57.00) on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

RIGL opened at $47.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $874.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $46.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.92. Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $24.95 and a 1 year high of $52.24.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $78.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.27 million. Rigel Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 116.30% and a return on equity of 22.95%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Rigel Pharmaceuticals will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rigel Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RIGL. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $75,886,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $25,793,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 379,541 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,259,000 after acquiring an additional 102,729 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,832,000. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P bought a new position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,408,000. 66.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops and commercializes small-molecule medicines for immune and hematologic diseases. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company focuses on therapies designed to address significant unmet medical needs in areas including autoimmune disorders, inflammatory conditions and cancer.

Rigel’s marketed products include TAVALISSE (fostamatinib), an oral spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved in the United States to treat adults with chronic immune thrombocytopenia who have had an insufficient response to previous treatment.