Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Sets New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $33.29 and last traded at $33.53, with a volume of 145496 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $34.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on IONS shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.68 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total transaction of $45,276.48. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $36.22 per share, with a total value of $181,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 35,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,632.18. The trade was a 16.55 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase 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.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Great Point Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $15,728,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,287.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 328,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,171,000 after acquiring an additional 319,065 shares during the last quarter. Logos Global Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $14,298,000. Baker BROS. Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,952,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,922,000 after purchasing an additional 183,814 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.