Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target Cut to $55.00 by Analysts at Needham & Company LLC

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price objective reduced by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $60.00 to $55.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 73.45% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on IONS. Citigroup cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $31.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of -10.43 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $52.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.71.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.07) by $0.14. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The company had revenue of $132.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.98) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $194,937.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares in the company, valued at $1,816,632.24. This represents a 9.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total value of $1,229,380.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,718,616.95. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,035 shares of company stock valued at $1,487,181. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 31.5% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 22,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 5,342 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.1% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 980 shares during the period. Significant Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 24.8% during the first quarter. Significant Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% during the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 4,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 727 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.