HC Wainwright Reaffirms Buy Rating for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $100.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 127.63% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 4th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.20.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of IONS stock opened at $43.93 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.61. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $43.01 and a 52 week high of $86.74. The stock has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.70 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 7.73, a current ratio of 7.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Michael Hayden purchased 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $53.38 per share, for a total transaction of $800,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,014,220. This represents a 375.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Allene Diaz sold 10,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total transaction of $863,681.62. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,535.62. This represents a 72.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 110,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,021,117 in the last 90 days. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,420,918,000 after purchasing an additional 5,238,571 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,148,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,158,000 after buying an additional 82,560 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% during the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,753,000 after buying an additional 1,225,043 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,434,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,077,000 after acquiring an additional 16,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 199.7% during the second quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,417,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,427,000 after acquiring an additional 944,766 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company that discovers and develops medicines using antisense technology, which is designed to target RNA and influence the production of disease-related proteins. The company focuses on neurological, cardiovascular, metabolic and other serious diseases for which there remains a significant unmet medical need.

Ionis has developed several approved therapies, including SPINRAZA (nusinersen) for spinal muscular atrophy, QALSODY (tofersen) for a form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, TEGSEDI (inotersen) for hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis and WAYLIVRA (volanesorsen) for familial chylomicronemia syndrome in certain markets.