Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 target price on the stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on IONS. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. William Blair reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $59.54.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock traded down $0.39 on Wednesday, reaching $39.77. 96,397 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,109,811. The company has a quick ratio of 5.83, a current ratio of 5.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18. The firm has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a PE ratio of -15.69 and a beta of 0.41. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $34.99 and a twelve month high of $54.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.74 and a 200-day moving average of $46.87.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.98) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.42 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 90.29% and a negative net margin of 46.32%. The business’s revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.87) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total value of $256,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $698,137.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $166,649.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $816,649.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total transaction of $256,260.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $698,137.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,393 shares of company stock worth $440,127 over the last three months. 2.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $974,000 after buying an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 194,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,828,000 after buying an additional 2,745 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $773,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.5% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 898,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,772,000 after buying an additional 113,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $39,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.