Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, based on 21 covering firms. The average 12-month price target is $100.90, with most analysts assigning buy or strong buy ratings.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of ($0.56) versus the expected ($0.85) and revenue of $246.09 million versus estimates of $195.57 million. Revenue jumped 86.4% year over year.
• Insider selling has been notable, including recent share sales by a director and an executive vice president. Over the last three months, insiders sold 99,726 shares worth about $7.35 million.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $100.90.

A number of equities analysts have commented on IONS shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $73.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $12.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.31 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $34.84 and a one year high of $86.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.93) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Spencer R. Berthelsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total value of $587,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 156,013 shares in the company, valued at $11,465,395.37. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 6,193 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.05, for a total transaction of $458,591.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,210,569.40. This represents a 27.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 99,726 shares of company stock worth $7,353,901. Insiders own 1.81% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 318.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 103,141 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,745,000 after purchasing an additional 78,470 shares in the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,980,000. Perceptive Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,845,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 824,540 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,915,000 after purchasing an additional 57,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stempoint Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,981,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company's proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis' pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.

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