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

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $60.00 price target on the stock.

IONS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $32.33 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82. The stock has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of -10.63 and a beta of 0.34. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $30.23 and a 1 year high of $52.34.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $194,937.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,816,632.24. This trade represents a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total transaction of $1,229,380.95. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,609 shares of company stock valued at $3,564,867 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other 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.