Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $93.5789.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on IONS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen cut Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of IONS opened at $76.43 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $77.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.32 and a beta of 0.40. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $25.74 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $203.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.07 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 68.82% and a negative net margin of 40.36%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.66) EPS. Analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 126,670 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total transaction of $9,525,584.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 242,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,248,182.40. The trade was a 34.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 37,277 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.85, for a total value of $2,827,460.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $888,506.90. This trade represents a 76.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 974,413 shares of company stock worth $75,333,995. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,420,918,000 after acquiring an additional 5,238,571 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 2,724,400 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,532,000 after buying an additional 1,314,752 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,753,000 after buying an additional 1,225,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,727,000 after buying an additional 945,729 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.