Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $92.8421.

IONS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of IONS stock opened at $73.89 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $78.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.41. The company has a market cap of $12.21 billion, a PE ratio of -30.28 and a beta of 0.40. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a current ratio of 3.83.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $203.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.07 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.66) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 215,048 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $15,569,475.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 92,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,721,036.80. This represents a 69.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 126,670 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total value of $9,525,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 242,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,248,182.40. The trade was a 34.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 974,413 shares of company stock worth $75,333,995 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,992,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.