Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $60.65.

IONS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $202,000. BLB&B Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% during the second quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 153,750 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,328,000 after buying an additional 7,650 shares during the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.3% during the second quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 132,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,292,000 after buying an additional 13,426 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 27.6% in the second quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,707 shares of the company's stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 22,669 shares of the company's stock worth $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS traded down $0.40 on Friday, reaching $36.61. 1,070,411 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,333,200. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $37.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.31. The company has a current ratio of 8.91, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $33.33 and a 52-week high of $54.44. The stock has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of -15.00 and a beta of 0.35.

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.