Citigroup Raises Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target to $84.00

Key Points

• Citigroup has increased its price target for Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $84.00, indicating a potential upside of 39.19% from its last close.
• Multiple research firms, including BMO Capital Markets and Morgan Stanley, have also raised their ratings and price targets for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, reflecting strong analyst confidence in the stock.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals recently reported a quarterly revenue of $452 million, significantly surpassing analysts' expectations of $270.9 million, and demonstrated a remarkable year-over-year revenue growth of 100.9%.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $69.00 to $84.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup's target price points to a potential upside of 39.19% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on IONS. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.25.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS traded up $2.86 on Wednesday, hitting $60.35. 5,387,960 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,872,521. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $62.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.77. The stock has a market cap of $9.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.76 and a beta of 0.28.

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

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.93, for a total transaction of $209,650.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 86,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,620,403.92. This represents a 5.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total transaction of $439,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 93,466 shares in the company, valued at $4,110,634.68. The trade was a 9.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 39,568 shares of company stock valued at $1,705,296. 2.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,135 shares of the company's stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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