Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, seventeen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $99.35.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $75.28 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.31. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.43 billion, a PE ratio of -36.37 and a beta of 0.38. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $31.66 and a 1-year high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The business had revenue of $246.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.93) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.23, for a total value of $6,741,601.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 80,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,382,293.42. This represents a 51.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 54,878 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.35, for a total transaction of $4,354,569.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at $302,402.85. The trade was a 93.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 751,532 shares of company stock worth $57,680,173. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 39.6% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 3,123 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 590.3% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 185,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,967,000 after buying an additional 159,026 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth $1,610,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth $327,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.