Analysts Set Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Target Price at $59.56

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $59.44.

Several research analysts have commented on IONS shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $1,091,310.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,767,331.48. This trade represents a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 1,207 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total transaction of $39,046.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,819,525.75. The trade was a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,350 shares of the company's stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 94.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the company's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,140 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,443,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,807,000 after acquiring an additional 114,914 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 308,947 shares of the company's stock worth $12,376,000 after acquiring an additional 34,097 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $31.72. The company had a trading volume of 1,151,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,424,368. The firm has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of -10.43 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $30.23 and a one year high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.95.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.