Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms "Buy" Rating for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)

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

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ IONS traded down $0.36 on Thursday, reaching $32.33. 1,569,929 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,689,898. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.65 and a 200 day moving average of $38.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of -10.63 and a beta of 0.34. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $30.23 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34. The company has a current ratio of 8.91, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm 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 111.15%. The company's revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $234,937.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,499,802.80. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 5,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $36.22 per share, for a total transaction of $181,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 35,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,275,632.18. The trade was a 16.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 110,609 shares of company stock worth $3,564,867. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $116,000. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $3,762,000. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $20,801,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,349,211 shares of the company's stock worth $47,168,000 after buying an additional 16,800 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 921,439 shares of the company's stock worth $32,214,000 after buying an additional 2,362 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by 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.