Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives "Buy" Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $60.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective suggests a potential upside of 68.40% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price target 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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 dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ IONS traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.63. The company had a trading volume of 4,061,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,355,215. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $33.33 and a 52 week high of $54.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.60 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.91.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 167,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,369,303.65. The trade was a 3.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,278,396.96. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,877 shares of company stock worth $299,578 over the last ninety days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.