Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on IONS. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock opened at $33.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a PE ratio of -10.97 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $30.23 and a one year 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.47.

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

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total transaction of $1,229,380.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 180,683 shares in the company, valued at $5,718,616.95. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 8,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.81, for a total value of $291,024.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,539,706.85. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439 over the last ninety days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,922,000 after purchasing an additional 183,814 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,961,000 after acquiring an additional 128,619 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 222.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $836,000 after acquiring an additional 16,508 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,443,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,807,000 after acquiring an additional 114,914 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 650,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,070,000 after acquiring an additional 77,909 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.