Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) to a sell rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $32.73 on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $30.23 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.44. The company has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of -10.77 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,499,802.80. This represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were acquired 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 in the company, valued at $1,275,632.18. This represents a 16.55 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 over the last three months. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $735,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 94.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 77,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 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.