Leerink Partners Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Leerink Partners from $114.00 to $122.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Leerink Partners’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 64.16% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.80.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $74.32. The company had a trading volume of 165,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,036,678. The company has a market capitalization of $12.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.90 and a beta of 0.37. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $36.11 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $74.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.93) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Spencer R. Berthelsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total value of $587,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 156,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,465,395.37. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.41, for a total value of $4,466,704.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,648,641.78. This trade represents a 73.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 99,726 shares of company stock valued at $7,353,901. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 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.