Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 27,640 Shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,012,931 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 27,640 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 5.75% of Rigel Pharmaceuticals worth $17,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,429 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,827 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $193,000. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 777.8% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 23,700 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 21,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 25,143 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 1,485 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rigel Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Raul R. Rodriguez sold 4,952 shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.92, for a total transaction of $103,595.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 243,854 shares in the company, valued at $5,101,425.68. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dean L. Schorno sold 2,036 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.92, for a total value of $42,593.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 58,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,631.48. The trade was a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,113 shares of company stock valued at $190,644. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.80.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

RIGL stock traded up $0.81 on Tuesday, reaching $17.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 133,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 209,809. The firm has a market cap of $316.96 million, a PE ratio of 126.72 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.48. Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.48 and a 12-month high of $29.82.

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

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.