Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives $56.67 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $57.59.

A number of research analysts have commented on IONS shares. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $35.59 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.94 and a 200-day moving average of $32.91. The company has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.71 and a beta of 0.18. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.07) by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $132.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.31 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.98) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $31.86 per share, with a total value of $477,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 50,219 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,977.34. The trade was a 42.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.