Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $76.39 and last traded at $76.1280, with a volume of 316970 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $74.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on IONS shares. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $11.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.52 and a beta of 0.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.10. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.35. The company had revenue of $157.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.75 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.95) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 89,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.11, for a total transaction of $6,703,492.39. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 59,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,480,837.27. This trade represents a 59.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 203,814 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 180,009 shares in the company, valued at $10,858,142.88. This represents a 53.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 924,789 shares of company stock valued at $59,515,499. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,488,000. Exome Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 121.0% during the first quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 135,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,092,000 after acquiring an additional 74,249 shares during the period. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $215,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 148,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,486,000 after purchasing an additional 43,071 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $226,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.