Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target Cut to $45.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) had its price objective decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $47.00 to $45.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

IONS has been the subject of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup cut their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.44.

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Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IONS traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $31.15. 799,700 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,448,598. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $30.23 and a 1-year high of $52.34. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.25 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $32.53 and a 200 day moving average of $35.80.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $234,937.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,670 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,499,802.80. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 6,165 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $194,937.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,816,632.24. This represents a 9.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company's stock valued at $400,831,000 after buying an additional 3,637,041 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $59,948,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $575,880,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416,781 shares during the period. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $20,801,000. Finally, Orbimed Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,347 shares of the company's stock worth $98,494,000 after purchasing an additional 492,900 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.