Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Ionis from a "strong sell" to a "hold" in its latest investor note.
• Analysts collectively rate the stock a "Moderate Buy" (1 Strong Buy, 17 Buy, 2 Hold, 1 Sell) with an average price target of $99.35.
• Ionis beat estimates last quarter with EPS of ($0.56) vs. ($0.85) expected and revenue of $246M (up 86.4% year‑over‑year), indicating improving revenue momentum.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 10th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.35.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of IONS opened at $75.28 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a current ratio of 4.10. The company has a market capitalization of $12.43 billion, a PE ratio of -36.37 and a beta of 0.38. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $31.66 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $246.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.93) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -4.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 5,812 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.97, for a total transaction of $412,477.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 63,890 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,273.30. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Birchler sold 973 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $73,013.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,065,200. This represents a 1.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 751,532 shares of company stock valued at $57,680,173 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 39.6% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,011 shares of the company's stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 3,123 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 590.3% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 185,967 shares of the company's stock worth $13,967,000 after buying an additional 159,026 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.2% during the first quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,345 shares of the company's stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. Capstone Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth approximately $1,610,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth approximately $327,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company's proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis' pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.

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