Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target Raised to $48.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $45.00 to $48.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

IONS has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have 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 to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.59.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $35.59 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of -11.71 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.89.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $144.31 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The business’s revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.98) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $31.86 per share, for a total transaction of $477,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 50,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. This trade represents a 42.59% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 61,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,613 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 63,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,210,000 after acquiring an additional 11,431 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $266,000. 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.