Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $60.00 price objective on the stock.

IONS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, November 13th. William Blair reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, November 13th. Bank of America upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $48.23.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $49.67 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $32.69 and a 1-year high of $50.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.06, a current ratio of 6.39 and a quick ratio of 6.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.13. The company has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of -17.31 and a beta of 0.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 3,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $173,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 118,111 shares in the company, valued at $5,433,106. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Klein III sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,282 shares of company stock valued at $934,603. Company insiders own 2.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.1% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 12,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 62,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,836,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 18,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $749,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during 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.