Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Earns Market Perform Rating from Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage of Ionis Pharmaceuticals with a “market perform” rating and a $60 price target, implying only about 0.64% upside from the reported share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with 17 Buy ratings, four Holds and one Sell; the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a significantly higher average price target of $94.15.
• Ionis beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, reporting a loss of $0.69 per share and $267.95 million in revenue, although revenue fell 40.7% year over year and analysts expect a full-year loss.

Equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a "market perform" rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets' price target suggests a potential upside of 0.64% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $105.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $59.62 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $65.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.57. The firm has a market cap of $9.91 billion, a PE ratio of -17.23 and a beta of 0.41. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $41.71 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The company has a current ratio of 7.89, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.08) by $0.39. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.76% and a negative return on equity of 111.08%. The firm had revenue of $267.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was down 40.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.41, for a total transaction of $4,466,704.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,648,641.78. The trade was a 73.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total value of $4,029,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,790,566.89. This trade represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551. Insiders own 1.81% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company's stock worth $19,686,000 after purchasing an additional 274,310 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,895,000 after purchasing an additional 39,794 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company's stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $220,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 47.8% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the company's stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares during the period. 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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