William Blair Has Pessimistic View of IONS FY2028 Earnings

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) - William Blair cut their FY2028 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report issued on Friday, December 20th. William Blair analyst M. Minter now expects that the company will post earnings of $2.07 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.26. William Blair currently has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Ionis Pharmaceuticals' current full-year earnings is ($3.37) per share.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on IONS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.04 on Monday, hitting $35.67. 439,033 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,351,360. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm's 50-day moving average is $37.38 and its 200 day moving average is $42.29. The stock has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.62 and a beta of 0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $33.33 and a 52-week high of $54.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total transaction of $45,276.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,278,396.96. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total value of $252,271.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 167,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,369,303.65. This represents a 3.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,877 shares of company stock valued at $299,578 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 664 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.