Wall Street Zen Upgrades Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) to "Buy"

Key Points

• Ionis Pharmaceuticals has been upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, signaling increased optimism from analysts regarding the company's stock.
• Guggenheim and HC Wainwright have set target prices for Ionis at $64.00 and $65.00 respectively, with an overall consensus price target of $59.38 among analysts.
• In the latest quarterly report, Ionis Pharmaceuticals beat earnings expectations with $0.70 EPS, significantly higher than the analysts’ estimate of $0.19.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on IONS. Barclays raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.38.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.0%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $42.04. 131,183 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,751,426. The company's 50-day moving average is $40.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a current ratio of 2.87. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $50.43. The firm has a market cap of $6.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.88 and a beta of 0.25.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $452.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $270.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.45) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total value of $428,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 89,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,835,627.12. This represents a 10.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,432 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $109,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 179,820 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,091,900. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,141 shares of company stock worth $1,204,806 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $60,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

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.