StockNews.com Upgrades Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) to Sell

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) to a sell rating in a report published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on IONS. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.9 %

NASDAQ IONS opened at $32.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of -10.84 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $30.23 and a 1-year high of $52.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.67 and a 200-day moving average of $36.49. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total value of $194,937.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,816,632.24. This trade represents a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the company’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 owns 180,683 shares in the company, valued at $5,718,616.95. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 over the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 671 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. 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.