Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Lifted to Outperform at SVB Leerink

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) was upgraded by SVB Leerink from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $62.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $53.00. SVB Leerink’s price target points to a potential upside of 19.55% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.18.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $51.86 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.25 and its 200-day moving average is $44.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.42 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15, a current ratio of 7.37 and a quick ratio of 7.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $35.95 and a 12-month high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.98) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 49.49% and a negative return on equity of 107.64%. The company had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.87) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,300. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 35.8% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 911 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 33,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 5,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.