Leerink Partnrs Analysts Lift Earnings Estimates for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) – Analysts at Leerink Partnrs lifted their FY2026 earnings estimates for shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 16th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Foroohar now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $1.09 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $1.04. The consensus estimate for Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ current full-year earnings is ($4.00) per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ FY2027 earnings at $1.56 EPS.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.78) by $0.72. The company had revenue of $325.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.01 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 46.32% and a negative return on equity of 90.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 113.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.37) EPS.

Several other research firms also recently commented on IONS. Wolfe Research raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.08.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ IONS opened at $40.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of -15.94 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 5.90, a quick ratio of 5.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $34.32 and a 12 month high of $54.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $44.07 and a 200-day moving average of $47.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.75, for a total value of $333,787.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,422,003.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.75, for a total value of $333,787.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,422,003.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,285 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.75, for a total value of $118,248.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,858,289.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,434 shares of company stock worth $2,556,127 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 50,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $207,000. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 12.3% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 21,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 2,343 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $318,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.