Analysts Set Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target at $60.65

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.65.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total value of $252,271.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 167,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,369,303.65. This represents a 3.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $36.22 per share, for a total transaction of $181,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,632.18. This represents a 16.55 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 7,877 shares of company stock worth $299,578 in the last quarter. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,922,000 after buying an additional 183,814 shares during the last quarter. Great Point Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $15,728,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,443,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,807,000 after purchasing an additional 114,914 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $2,429,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 650,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,070,000 after purchasing an additional 77,909 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $33.46 on Wednesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $33.15 and a 1 year high of $54.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.71 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.59. The company has a current ratio of 8.91, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

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.