Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.65.

Several brokerages recently commented on IONS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 26th.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $36.25 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $37.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.37. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $33.33 and a twelve month high of $54.44. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.86 and a beta of 0.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total value of $45,276.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,713 shares in the company, valued at $1,278,396.96. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total transaction of $252,271.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 167,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,369,303.65. This trade represents a 3.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,877 shares of company stock valued at $299,578. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,922,000 after buying an additional 183,814 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,443,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,807,000 after acquiring an additional 114,914 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 1,384,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,454,000 after purchasing an additional 23,244 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,332,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,376,000 after purchasing an additional 45,300 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 952,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,409,000 after purchasing an additional 54,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.