Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) PT Raised to $53.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its target price increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $50.00 to $53.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective points to a potential upside of 11.20% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on IONS. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $47.66 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $35.95 and a 1 year high of $54.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15, a current ratio of 7.37 and a quick ratio of 7.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.88. The company has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.85 and a beta of 0.35.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.98) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.10) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $119.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.42 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 107.64% and a negative net margin of 49.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.87) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total transaction of $256,260.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $698,137.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $166,649.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,631 shares in the company, valued at $816,649.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total value of $256,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $698,137.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $44,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently 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.