Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Given New $48.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) had its price objective boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $45.00 to $48.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on IONS. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 31st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.59.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of IONS traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $35.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,483,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,589,103. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.94 and a 200 day moving average of $32.87. The company has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.71 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.07) by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $132.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $144.31 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The company's revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.98) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $31.86 per share, for a total transaction of $477,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 50,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. This represents a 42.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416,781 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $488,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006,334 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company's stock worth $400,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,637,041 shares during the last quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,347 shares of the company's stock worth $98,494,000 after purchasing an additional 492,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,687,248 shares of the company's stock worth $93,976,000 after purchasing an additional 18,890 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.