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

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.43.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 3rd.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $47.70 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $35.95 and a 52 week high of $54.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15, a quick ratio of 7.28 and a current ratio of 7.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.28 and a 200-day moving average of $44.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.87 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 33,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 62,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,836,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 5,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.