** Ironwood Pharmaceuticals shares up 15.4 pct to$16.57 in Mon trading; shares on track for biggest single-daypercentage gain since Jan 2014
** Biotech co says notified that activist hedge fund SarissaCapital Management intends to nominate its chief investmentofficer Alex Denner to Ironwood board
** "Our initial reaction is positive based on having knownDenner for more than a decade and given his track record forvalue creation with other firms," Wells Fargo analyst DavidMaris says in research note
** Maris says Ironwood's combination of several early-stageprograms with a successful commercial product - its Linzess forirritable bowel syndrome and constipation - "may be confusing toinvestors" as a development-stage company may hold differentappeal than a commercial company
** IRWD shares down more than 16 pct from levels reachedlast Jun
** YTD, IRWD shares now up 10.5 pct vs 2.3 pct decline forNasdaq Biotechnology index
** Four analysts rate shares "buy" or stronger, six rate"hold", two rate "sell", according to Thomson Reuters data;median PT of $15