Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Reaches New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Ionis Pharmaceuticals' stock hit a new 52-week high of $69.25 during trading, with a closing price of $69.24 and significant trading volume of nearly 132,000 shares.
• Brokerages have issued positive ratings and increased target prices for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, with Morgan Stanley raising its target from $71.00 to $86.00 and Jefferies boosting it from $83.00 to $96.00.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $0.70, beating estimates, and a revenue increase of over 100% year-over-year to $452 million.

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $69.25 and last traded at $69.24, with a volume of 131972 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $69.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on IONS. Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $71.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $83.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.29.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a PE ratio of -37.50 and a beta of 0.33. The firm's fifty day moving average is $52.25 and its 200-day moving average is $40.68. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $452.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $270.90 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.25% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.45) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 49,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.26, for a total transaction of $3,249,948.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 110,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,211,230. This represents a 31.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 33,909 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $2,055,563.58. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,570 shares in the company, valued at $6,157,173.40. The trade was a 25.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 734,419 shares of company stock valued at $44,529,494 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $488,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006,334 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,891,095 shares of the company's stock valued at $114,245,000 after purchasing an additional 48,141 shares during the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $57,727,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.6% in the second quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,160,957 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,869,000 after purchasing an additional 91,746 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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