Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.00.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on IONS shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $36.22 per share, for a total transaction of $181,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 35,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,632.18. This trade represents a 16.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $194,937.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares in the company, valued at $1,816,632.24. The trade was a 9.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,816 shares of company stock worth $3,603,914 over the last ninety days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $33.75 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $30.23 and a 12-month high of $52.34. The company has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of -11.10 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.52. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The company had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

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.