Brokerages Set Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target at $60.56

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $60.56.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IONS. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS opened at $37.91 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of -14.20 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67, a current ratio of 7.61 and a quick ratio of 7.51. The business’s 50-day moving average is $45.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.60. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $35.95 and a 1 year high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $225.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.35 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.90% and a negative return on equity of 115.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,300. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at $817,300. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $116,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at $4,104,384. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,750 shares of company stock valued at $732,371. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 162.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,616,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,573,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856,353 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $18,068,000. Great Point Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $15,728,000. Logos Global Management LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $14,298,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $11,718,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.