Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price points to a potential upside of 85.60% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on IONS. StockNews.com lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.1 %

IONS stock opened at $32.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.63 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.36. The company has a current ratio of 8.91, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $30.23 and a 1-year high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 111.15% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The business’s revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $194,937.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares in the company, valued at $1,816,632.24. This trade represents a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total value of $234,937.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,499,802.80. The trade was a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 110,609 shares of company stock worth $3,564,867. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.