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

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.43.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total value of $256,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at $698,137.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total value of $256,260.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $698,137.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total value of $166,649.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $816,649.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 162.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,616,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,573,000 after buying an additional 2,856,353 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,275,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,518,000 after purchasing an additional 33,012 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $59,288,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $48,399,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 956,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,407,000 after acquiring an additional 58,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $41.83 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.97. The company has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.67 and a beta of 0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $35.95 and a 1-year high of $54.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15, a current ratio of 7.37 and a quick ratio of 7.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.98) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.10) by $0.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 107.64% and a negative net margin of 49.49%. The business had revenue of $119.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.87) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.