Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

IONS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.80.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $81.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.54 billion, a PE ratio of -33.59 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $81.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.81. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 68.82% and a negative net margin of 40.36%.The business had revenue of $203.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.07 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.66) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 23,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.12, for a total transaction of $1,856,392.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,453 shares in the company, valued at $2,409,441.36. This trade represents a 43.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 62,970 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.72, for a total value of $5,208,878.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 283,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,486,441.44. The trade was a 18.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 436,579 shares of company stock worth $35,367,233 in the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,686,000 after buying an additional 274,310 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,895,000 after acquiring an additional 39,794 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,488,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $323,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.