William Blair Has Optimistic Outlook of IONS FY2025 Earnings

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) – William Blair boosted their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, January 21st. William Blair analyst M. Minter now forecasts that the company will post earnings of ($3.60) per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of ($3.80). William Blair has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ current full-year earnings is ($3.47) per share.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 6.0 %

IONS opened at $34.46 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $35.22 and its 200-day moving average is $40.81. The company has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.12 and a beta of 0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $31.40 and a 1-year high of $52.49. The company has a current ratio of 8.91, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $1,091,310.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,767,331.48. This represents a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total value of $45,276.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,278,396.96. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,293 shares of company stock valued at $1,914,820 over the last ninety days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.