Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Call Options (NASDAQ:IRWD)

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 2,884 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 582% compared to the typical daily volume of 423 call options.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IRWD traded up $0.93 on Friday, hitting $4.30. 66,343,876 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,223,007. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $0.53 and a 52-week high of $5.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $699.52 million, a P/E ratio of 26.92 and a beta of 0.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.75.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $1.00 to $3.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.34.

Institutional Trading of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IRWD. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 21.4% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 19,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 3,406 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd raised its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 286.5% in the second quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 38,765 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 28,735 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 284.6% in the second quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 39,743 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 29,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000.

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.