Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) Short Interest Up 140.8% in February

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,350,000 shares, an increase of 140.8% from the January 31st total of 560,700 shares. Currently, 7.9% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 254,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Rigel Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $1.79 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.29. 581,252 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 245,849. Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $7.48 and a 12 month high of $29.82. The company has a market cap of $357.41 million, a PE ratio of 144.94 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.40.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $57.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.59 million. Rigel Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 2.46% and a negative return on equity of 14.80%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Rigel Pharmaceuticals will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rigel Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David A. Santos sold 2,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.92, for a total value of $44,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,119,220. This trade represents a 3.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Raul R. Rodriguez sold 4,952 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.92, for a total value of $103,595.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 243,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,101,425.68. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,113 shares of company stock valued at $190,644. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,603 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 2,648 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,429 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 2,827 shares during the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $170,000. Finally, Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $181,000. 66.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RIGL. Citigroup lifted their target price on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rigel Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.60.

About Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, engages in discovering, developing, and providing therapies that enhance the lives of patients with hematologic disorders and cancer. The company's commercialized products include Tavalisse, an oral spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia; Rezlidhia, a non-intensive monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a susceptible isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test; and GAVRETO, a once daily, small molecule, oral, kinase inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic rearranged during transfection (RET) fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer, as well as for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with advanced or metastatic RET fusion-positive thyroid cancer.