Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.44.

IONS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, 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 approximately $1,819,525.75. The trade was a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $1,091,310.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 207,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,767,331.48. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,922,000 after purchasing an additional 183,814 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,961,000 after purchasing an additional 128,619 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 222.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $836,000 after acquiring an additional 16,508 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,443,020 shares of the company's stock worth $57,807,000 after buying an additional 114,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 650,779 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,070,000 after purchasing an additional 77,909 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of IONS traded down $1.23 on Monday, hitting $32.23. 823,546 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,419,748. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $30.23 and a one year high of $52.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. The company has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of -10.60 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The company had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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.