Barclays Raises Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target to $58.00

Key Points

• Barclays has raised its price target for Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $58.00, indicating a potential upside of 34.14% from its previous close.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals has received multiple ratings upgrades, with Wells Fargo raising its target to $82.00 and a consensus target price currently at $60.23.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $0.70, surpassing analysts' estimates by $0.51, with revenues up 100.9% year-over-year.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Barclays from $57.00 to $58.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Barclays's price objective points to a potential upside of 34.14% from the stock's previous close.

IONS has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Wall Street Zen raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.23.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $43.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.50 and a beta of 0.25. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $23.95 and a one year high of $50.43. The stock's 50-day moving average is $41.23 and its 200-day moving average is $35.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.86.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $452.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $270.90 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.25% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.45) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,432 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $109,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 179,820 shares in the company, valued at $8,091,900. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.93, for a total value of $209,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 86,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,620,403.92. This represents a 5.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,141 shares of company stock valued at $1,644,606 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,786.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 28,993 shares of the company's stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 28,247 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.8% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,989 shares of the company's stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,692,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,450 shares of the company's stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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