Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Price Up 7% – Time to Buy?

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) shares shot up 7% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $34.54 and last traded at $34.77. 1,024,178 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 1,450,947 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on IONS. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 6.0 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.28 and its 200 day moving average is $40.86. The company has a current ratio of 8.91, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The company has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.12 and a beta of 0.35.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $36.22 per share, with a total value of $181,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,632.18. This trade represents a 16.55 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total transaction of $252,271.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 167,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,369,303.65. This represents a 3.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 57,293 shares of company stock worth $1,914,820 in the last three months. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $252,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 28.0% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 68,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,254,000 after acquiring an additional 14,950 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.8% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.