Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 560,700 shares, an increase of 22.7% from the January 15th total of 456,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 301,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.4 %

RIGL stock traded up $0.71 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.57. The company had a trading volume of 194,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 262,255. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.44. The company has a market cap of $379.85 million, a P/E ratio of 154.08 and a beta of 1.34. Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $7.48 and a fifty-two week high of $29.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Raul R. Rodriguez sold 4,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.92, for a total transaction of $103,595.84. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,220. This represents a 3.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,113 shares of company stock worth $190,644 in the last three months. 9.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 44.5% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,603 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 2,648 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,429 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,827 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC acquired a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $181,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $184,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on RIGL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. B. Riley lifted their price target on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rigel Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.20.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.