JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Price

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its target price reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $51.00 to $47.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on IONS. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $33.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.85 and a 200-day moving average of $37.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $30.23 and a one year high of $52.34. The company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of -10.87 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $36.22 per share, for a total transaction of $181,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,632.18. This represents a 16.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was 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 represents a 9.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,816 shares of company stock worth $3,603,914. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.