Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada restated their outperform rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $70.00 target price on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on IONS. StockNews.com cut Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $32.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.30. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $30.23 and a 1-year high of $52.34. The company has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of -10.63 and a beta of 0.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $1,091,310.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 207,396 shares in the company, valued at $6,767,331.48. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total value of $194,937.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,816,632.24. This trade represents a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 110,609 shares of company stock valued at $3,564,867. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $116,000. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,762,000. Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $20,801,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,349,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,168,000 after purchasing an additional 16,800 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 921,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,214,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.