Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Upgraded at StockNews.com

by · The Markets Daily

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS – Free Report) to a sell rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on IONS. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.56.

View Our Latest Report on IONS

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $32.73 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.44. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of -10.77 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $30.23 and a 1-year high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $36.22 per share, for a total transaction of $181,100.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 35,219 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,632.18. The trade was a 16.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total transaction of $39,046.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,819,525.75. The trade was a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Signaturefd LLC increased 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

(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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