JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price target raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $48.00 to $49.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

IONS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $55.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.64.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $42.75 on Monday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $50.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.74 and its 200 day moving average is $35.32. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.23 and a beta of 0.25.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $270.90 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 45.29% and a negative net margin of 28.25%.Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.45) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total transaction of $428,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 89,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,835,627.12. This trade represents a 10.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 1,427 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.53, for a total value of $60,690.31. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $781,191.04. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,568 shares of company stock worth $1,705,296. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $221,000. Marex Group plc bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $3,294,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 46,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,000 after acquiring an additional 2,648 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 237,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,401,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the period. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $19,755,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.