Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Rating Increased to Neutral at The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" to a "neutral" rating, with a price objective of $65.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.22% from the last close.
• Other analysts have shown positive sentiment, with multiple firms raising their price targets and ratings, including a "strong-buy" from Raymond James Financial setting a target of $75.00.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported significant financial growth, with a 100.9% year-over-year increase in revenue to $452.00 million for the most recent quarter, exceeding analyst estimates.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report released on Friday,Finviz reports. The brokerage presently has a $65.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price target would indicate a potential upside of 3.22% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on IONS. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.88.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $62.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.04 billion, a PE ratio of -34.22 and a beta of 0.28. The company's 50-day moving average is $49.35 and its 200-day moving average is $39.21. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $64.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.86.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.90 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.45) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.60, for a total transaction of $357,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 82,679 shares in the company, valued at $4,927,668.40. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 203,814 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total transaction of $12,294,060.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 180,009 shares in the company, valued at $10,858,142.88. The trade was a 53.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 492,841 shares of company stock valued at $28,595,925. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724,400 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,175,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $488,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006,334 shares in the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $57,727,000. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $19,755,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $17,790,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.