Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price objective boosted by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price points to a potential upside of 32.84% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on IONS. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.35.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of IONS opened at $75.28 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $12.43 billion, a PE ratio of -36.37 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.30 and a 200 day moving average of $77.26. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $31.66 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The company has a quick ratio of 3.81, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The company had revenue of $246.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.57 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.93) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -4.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 126,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $18,248,182.40. This trade represents a 34.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 37,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 11,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $888,506.90. This represents a 76.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 751,532 shares of company stock valued at $57,680,173. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.