Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average analyst rating of "Moderate Buy", with 15 analysts issuing buy ratings and only one rating a sell.
• Recent institutional trading showed significant growth, with CWM LLC increasing its stake by 18.7% in the first quarter and GAMMA Investing LLC increasing by 44.2% in the third quarter.
• The company reported a significant increase in revenue of 100.9% year-over-year, achieving $452 million for the last quarter, while also surpassing earnings expectations with $0.70 EPS.

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $78.2778.

Several equities research analysts have commented on IONS shares. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $71.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 49,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.26, for a total value of $3,249,948.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 110,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,211,230. This represents a 31.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 203,814 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total value of $12,294,060.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 180,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,858,142.88. The trade was a 53.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 753,986 shares of company stock valued at $45,921,435 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 44.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,411 shares of the company's stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS opened at $70.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a current ratio of 2.87. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $71.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.20 billion, a PE ratio of -38.19 and a beta of 0.33. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $54.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.58.

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

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