Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives $60.56 Average PT from Analysts

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.56.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on IONS shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at $4,104,384. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,104,384. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,300. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,750 shares of company stock worth $732,371 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $297,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $784,000. Algert Global LLC raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 149.2% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 75,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,591,000 after purchasing an additional 45,108 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 274,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,099,000 after purchasing an additional 29,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Point Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $15,728,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $37.91 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.62. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $35.95 and a 52-week high of $54.44. The firm has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.15 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 7.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.90% and a negative return on equity of 115.66%. The business had revenue of $225.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.