Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives $46.64 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS – Get Rating) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.64.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, VNET Group reiterated a “maintains” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, May 4th.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $39.17 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.06. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $32.69 and a one year high of $48.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 9.72 and a current ratio of 9.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.96 and a beta of 0.54.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 3rd. The company reported ($0.87) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.00) by $0.13. The business had revenue of $131.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $126.88 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 56.85% and a negative return on equity of 57.58%. The company’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.46) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 4,931 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total value of $197,930.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 140,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,634,612.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 4,931 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total transaction of $197,930.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 140,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,634,612.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,527 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total transaction of $63,675.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,355 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,682,803.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,130 shares of company stock worth $286,134. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 50,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $207,000. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 12.3% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 21,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 2,343 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 831 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $318,000. 87.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc engages in the development and commercialization of human therapeutic drugs using antisense technology. It operates through the Ionis Core segment. The Ionis Core segment exploits a novel drug discovery platform to generate a pipeline of drugs. The company was founded by Stanley T.