Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ (IONS) Buy Rating Reiterated at Guggenheim

Guggenheim reiterated their buy rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 5.0 %

IONS opened at $27.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $26.88 and a one year high of $52.34. The company has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.91 and a beta of 0.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.29.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The company had revenue of $227.00 million for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $1,091,310.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 207,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,767,331.48. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 8,870 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.81, for a total transaction of $291,024.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,539,706.85. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% in the fourth 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 boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.