Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives $86.95 Average PT from Brokerages

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.95.

IONS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Leerink Partners upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $89.00 price target (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total value of $7,056,430.77. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 80,293 shares in the company, valued at $6,658,698.49. The trade was a 51.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.72, for a total transaction of $413,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 56,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,660,775.68. The trade was a 8.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 481,356 shares of company stock valued at $38,987,621 over the last three months. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,992,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $82.22 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.11. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.65 and a beta of 0.29.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.