Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives $56.67 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.67.

Several research firms have recently commented on IONS. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.84. 1,596,368 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,581,335. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $52.34. The stock has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.12 and a beta of 0.18. The stock's 50-day moving average is $31.39 and its 200 day moving average is $32.89.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.07) by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $132.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.31 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.98) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $31.86 per share, with a total value of $477,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 50,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. The trade was a 42.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

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.