Short Interest in Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) Rises By 27.1%

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 807,500 shares, an increase of 27.1% from the December 15th total of 635,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 243,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 4.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 16.0 %

NASDAQ:RIGL traded up $2.78 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $20.13. 584,497 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 254,690. The company has a market cap of $354.59 million, a P/E ratio of 143.80 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $21.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.62. Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $7.48 and a 52-week high of $29.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RIGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. B. Riley raised their price objective on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Rigel Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Rigel Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.20.

Institutional Trading of Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 42.8% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $193,000. Empire Financial Management Company LLC acquired a new position in Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $231,000. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Rigel Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $322,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Rigel Pharmaceuticals by 1,199.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 21,008 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 19,391 shares during the last quarter. 66.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.