Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Earns "Buy" Rating from HC Wainwright

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $50.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright's target price would indicate a potential upside of 46.93% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $34.03 on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The stock's 50 day moving average is $30.57 and its 200-day moving average is $33.14. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.19 and a beta of 0.15.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 1,207 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,819,525.75. This trade represents a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $31.86 per share, with a total value of $477,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 50,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. This represents a 42.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,027 shares of company stock worth $62,863 in the last three months. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Xponance Inc. raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company's stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company's stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by 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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