Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Earns "Sell (D-)" Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings reissued a "Sell (D-)" rating for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS), indicating a bearish outlook from stock analysts.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals has seen a range of analyst price targets, with Citigroup raising its target from $69.00 to $84.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating, while the consensus price target sits at $78.28.
• Insider transactions included CEO Brett P. Monia selling over 203,000 shares, resulting in a 53% decrease in his holdings, a significant move reflecting potential internal concerns about the stock's performance.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell (d-)" rating reissued by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on IONS. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $71.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $69.96 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $11.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.02 and a beta of 0.33. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $71.87. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $53.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.45) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 203,814 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total transaction of $12,294,060.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 180,009 shares in the company, valued at $10,858,142.88. This represents a 53.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 57,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.24, for a total transaction of $3,777,396.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 79,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,196,822.68. The trade was a 42.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 755,146 shares of company stock valued at $45,969,854 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,175,533 shares of the company's stock worth $488,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006,334 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company's stock worth $150,138,000 after buying an additional 2,724,400 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,891,095 shares of the company's stock worth $114,245,000 after buying an additional 48,141 shares in the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $57,727,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.6% during the second quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,160,957 shares of the company's stock worth $45,869,000 after buying an additional 91,746 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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