Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Earns "Buy" Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "Buy" rating for Ionis Pharmaceuticals with a target price of $55.00, indicating a potential upside of nearly 29% from its previous close.
• The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analyst expectations of $0.19, and demonstrated a remarkable 100.9% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Several other brokerages have raised their price targets for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, with the highest reaching $70.00, highlighting positive sentiment among market analysts.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $55.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's target price indicates a potential upside of 28.84% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on IONS. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James Financial upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.85.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of IONS stock opened at $42.69 on Monday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $50.43. 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's 50 day moving average is $41.38 and its 200 day moving average is $35.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.20 and a beta of 0.25.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 last year, the company posted ($0.45) earnings per share. 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. Research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,549 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.80, for a total value of $408,697.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 51,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,204,499.60. This represents a 15.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total transaction of $428,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 89,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,835,627.12. This trade represents a 10.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,141 shares of company stock valued at $1,644,606. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 151.3% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the company's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $60,000. 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.

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