Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $55.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. 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 research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.38.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS stock opened at $43.43 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $50.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.60 and a beta of 0.25.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.25% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The company had revenue of $452.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.45) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,549 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.80, for a total value of $408,697.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,204,499.60. This trade represents a 15.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 10,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total transaction of $428,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 89,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,835,627.12. The trade was a 10.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,141 shares of company stock worth $1,204,806. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,786.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 28,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 28,247 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,692,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 1,625 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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