Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Upgraded at BMO Capital Markets

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) was upgraded by BMO Capital Markets to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on IONS. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $105.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. HC Wainwright decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $60.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.57 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a current ratio of 7.89. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $41.71 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.08) by $0.39. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 111.08% and a negative net margin of 64.76%.The company had revenue of $267.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.05, for a total value of $2,107,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 77,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,250,089.70. This trade represents a 25.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total value of $4,029,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,790,566.89. The trade was a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551. 1.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.