Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target Cut to $64.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $67.00 to $64.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price target indicates a potential upside of 96.74% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS traded up $0.72 on Thursday, hitting $32.53. The stock had a trading volume of 1,620,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,644,421. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $30.23 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.50. The company has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.35 and a beta of 0.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.58% and a negative return on equity of 88.98%. The business had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $36.22 per share, for a total transaction of $181,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 35,219 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,632.18. This trade represents a 16.55 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total transaction of $1,229,380.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 180,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,718,616.95. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,609 shares of company stock worth $3,564,867. Insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 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.