JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Price

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price target upped by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $72.00 to $76.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 42.57% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $105.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $1.54 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $53.31. 683,052 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,424,336. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.52. The stock has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.38 and a beta of 0.41. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $40.03 and a 12 month high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a current ratio of 7.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total transaction of $4,029,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 245,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,566.89. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.41, for a total value of $4,466,704.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,648,641.78. The trade was a 73.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 79.1% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 383,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,385,000 after purchasing an additional 169,300 shares during the last quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $270,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 40,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,245,000 after buying an additional 7,254 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 22.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $112,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.