Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives $58.43 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $58.64.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on IONS shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 3rd.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $698,137.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $698,137.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was 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 directly owns 19,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $816,649.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Pingora Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $47.66 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.55 and its 200-day moving average is $44.88. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $35.95 and a 12-month high of $54.44. The company has a quick ratio of 7.28, a current ratio of 7.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15. The firm has a market cap of $6.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.85 and a beta of 0.35.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted 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 company had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.87) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.95 earnings per share for the current 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.