JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target to $47.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price objective reduced by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $51.00 to $47.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 40.68% from the company’s previous close.

IONS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $33.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.99 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $30.23 and a 12-month high of $52.34. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $36.22 per share, for a total transaction of $181,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,632.18. This trade represents a 16.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $1,091,310.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 207,396 shares in the company, valued at $6,767,331.48. This trade represents a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 111,816 shares of company stock worth $3,603,914. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $465,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 17.6% in the third quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 87,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,485,000 after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicollet Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the third quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.