Ionis Pharmaceuticals' (IONS) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada restated their outperform rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $70.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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 research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.1 %

IONS traded down $0.36 during trading on Thursday, hitting $32.33. 1,569,929 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,689,898. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $30.23 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34. The stock has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.63 and a beta of 0.34. The business's 50 day moving average is $33.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.36.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 111.15% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $36.22 per share, for a total transaction of $181,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,219 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,632.18. This trade represents a 16.55 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 6,165 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $194,937.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,816,632.24. This represents a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,609 shares of company stock worth $3,564,867 over the last ninety days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company's stock worth $575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416,781 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company's stock worth $400,831,000 after buying an additional 3,637,041 shares in the last quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,347 shares of the company's stock worth $98,494,000 after buying an additional 492,900 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,687,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,976,000 after acquiring an additional 18,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,948,000. Hedge funds and other 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.