Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives $56.67 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.67.

A number of research firms have issued reports on IONS. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $32.99 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $52.34. The company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.85 and a beta of 0.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.29.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.07) by $0.14. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The company had revenue of $132.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.98) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total transaction of $39,046.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,819,525.75. This trade represents a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $31.86 per share, for a total transaction of $477,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 50,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,977.34. This trade represents a 42.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,027 shares of company stock worth $62,863 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,961,000 after purchasing an additional 128,619 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 222.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 16,508 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $829,000. 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.