Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target Lowered to $47.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $51.00 to $47.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on IONS. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $32.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.82 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $30.23 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.00. 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 (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The company had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,819,525.75. This trade represents a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $1,091,310.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,396 shares in the company, valued at $6,767,331.48. This trade represents a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.