Ionis Pharmaceuticals' (IONS) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $60.00 target price on the stock.

IONS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, HC Wainwright started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.72.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:IONS traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.40. 842,691 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,522,365. The business's 50-day moving average price is $30.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.20. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The company has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of -9.34 and a beta of 0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $140.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 13,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.45, for a total value of $429,702.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 219,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,123,618.70. This trade represents a 5.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 1,207 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,819,525.75. This represents 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 63,167 shares of company stock valued at $2,010,458 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,722.5% during the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 3,066 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.8% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,786.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 28,993 shares of the company's stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 28,247 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 133,902 shares of the company's stock worth $4,681,000 after purchasing an additional 7,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $116,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

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.