Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives "Buy" Rating from HC Wainwright

Key Points

• Ionis Pharmaceuticals received a "buy" rating from HC Wainwright with a price target of $95.00, indicating a potential upside of 54.82% from its previous close.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.56.
• The company reported a significant revenue increase of 100.9% year-over-year for the quarter, with an EPS of $0.70, surpassing estimates by $0.51.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by HC Wainwright in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $95.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright's price target would suggest a potential upside of 54.82% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on IONS. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $61.36 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $48.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.66. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $64.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.35 and a beta of 0.28. 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 results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.45) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 19,658 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total transaction of $1,195,402.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,132,140.67. This trade represents a 27.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 33,909 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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. This represents a 25.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 492,841 shares of company stock worth $28,595,925 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company's stock worth $150,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,724,400 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,175,533 shares of the company's stock worth $488,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,006,334 shares during the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $57,727,000. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $19,755,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $17,790,000. 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.

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