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

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.1905.

IONS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ IONS opened at $78.98 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $76.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 2.79. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $83.61. The stock has a market cap of $12.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.73 and a beta of 0.30.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 44.26% and a negative net margin of 26.45%.The company had revenue of $156.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph H. Wender sold 28,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.82, for a total value of $2,262,960.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 36,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,912,348.70. This represents a 43.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 16,777 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.91, for a total value of $1,357,427.07. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,415,439.54. This represents a 48.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 340,924 shares of company stock valued at $25,047,439. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,722,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $832,321,000 after purchasing an additional 182,540 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,138,000 after buying an additional 2,724,400 shares during the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the third quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,901,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,798,000 after buying an additional 9,268 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,891,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,245,000 after buying an additional 48,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BVF Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $57,727,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.