Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target to $77.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $77.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

IONS has been the subject of several other reports. Guggenheim cut their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Leerink Partners upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. Finally, 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 Thursday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.71.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.73 on Thursday, hitting $39.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,019,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,205,554. The stock has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.06 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 7.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $35.95 and a twelve month high of $54.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.92.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.95) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.21. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 113.42% and a negative net margin of 44.58%. The firm had revenue of $134.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.99 million. Analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.73 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Great Point Partners LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $15,728,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,287.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 328,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,171,000 after acquiring an additional 319,065 shares during the last quarter. Logos Global Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,298,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at $11,718,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,021.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 173,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,255,000 after purchasing an additional 157,756 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.