BMO Capital Markets Has Lowered Expectations for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Price

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $60.00 to $45.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 43.93% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.76.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $31.27 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.50. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $30.23 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The company has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.82 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 8.91, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.58% and a negative return on equity of 88.98%. The business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $36.22 per share, with a total value of $181,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 35,219 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,632.18. This trade represents a 16.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $1,091,310.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,767,331.48. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,609 shares of company stock worth $3,564,867. 2.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by 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.