Raymond James Financial Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

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Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Raymond James Financial from $60.00 to $64.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "strong-buy" rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial's price objective suggests a potential upside of 48.73% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised 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 research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Barclays raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.79.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of IONS stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $43.03. 2,315,768 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,751,200. The stock's 50 day moving average is $39.07 and its 200-day moving average is $34.12. The company has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.39 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 9.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $50.43.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.90 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 45.29% and a negative net margin of 28.25%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.45) earnings per share. Analysts predict 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 2,432 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $109,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 179,820 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,091,900. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 64.6% during the 2nd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 13,263 shares of the company's stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 5,204 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 668,273 shares of the company's stock worth $26,403,000 after purchasing an additional 167,822 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,488,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,104,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,646,000 after buying an additional 4,224 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 12,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 1,759 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.