StockNews.com Lowers Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. 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. Barclays increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $67.00 to $60.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.1 %

IONS opened at $39.19 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.10. The firm has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of -14.68 and a beta of 0.38. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $35.95 and a twelve month high of $54.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 7.61.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.47. The business had revenue of $225.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.35 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.90% and a negative return on equity of 115.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,104,384. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,803 shares of company stock valued at $134,402. 2.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 35.8% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $668,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.