Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives $67.88 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.8750.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $83.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock opened at $61.17 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.24 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $46.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $64.71.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.25% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The company had revenue of $452.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.45) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 203,814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total transaction of $12,294,060.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 180,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,858,142.88. This represents a 53.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 33,909 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $2,055,563.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,157,173.40. The trade was a 25.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 492,841 shares of company stock worth $28,595,925. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONS. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,175,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,006,334 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724,400 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,891,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,245,000 after purchasing an additional 48,141 shares in the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $57,727,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,349,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,168,000 after purchasing an additional 16,800 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.