Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares reached a new 52-week high after HC Wainwright upgraded their price target from $70.00 to $95.00, reflecting strong confidence in the stock.
• Multiple analysts have issued positive ratings on Ionis Pharmaceuticals, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.43.
• Insider activity included significant stock sales, with insiders collectively selling around $1.7 million worth of shares over the last ninety days.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $80.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Ionis Pharmaceuticals traded as high as $51.86 and last traded at $53.81, with a volume of 1191722 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.63.

IONS has been the topic of several other research reports. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $43.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 33,909 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $2,055,563.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,157,173.40. The trade was a 25.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 203,814 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 180,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,858,142.88. This trade represents a 53.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 464,141 shares of company stock worth $26,772,779. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 123.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $221,000. Marex Group plc acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,294,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 46,501 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,841,000 after purchasing an additional 2,648 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 237,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,401,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a current ratio of 2.87. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $43.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.28 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $452.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.90 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.25% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.45) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

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.