Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target Raised to $77.00 at Piper Sandler

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $70.00 to $77.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 4.39% from the company’s current price.

IONS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $73.76. 414,525 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,959,335. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $75.49. The company has a market capitalization of $11.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.64 and a beta of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 45.29% and a negative net margin of 26.45%.The business had revenue of $157.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.75 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 203,814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total transaction of $12,294,060.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 180,009 shares in the company, valued at $10,858,142.88. This represents a 53.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 33,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $2,055,563.58. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,157,173.40. This trade represents a 25.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 887,150 shares of company stock valued at $56,494,060 in the last ninety days. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 620.2% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.