Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Earns “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

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

IONS has been the subject of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.20.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS stock opened at $43.93 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.61. The company has a current ratio of 7.89, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $43.01 and a 52 week high of $86.74. The company has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a PE ratio of -12.70 and a beta of 0.42.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP C. Bennett sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.46, for a total value of $1,281,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 75,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,411,038.28. This trade represents a 16.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was 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 directly owned 77,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,250,089.70. This represents a 25.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 110,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,021,117. 1.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $283,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 42.8% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 49,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,899,000 after acquiring an additional 14,746 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 12,172.0% during the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 6,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 6,086 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 43,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.