Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target Raised to $75.00 at Oppenheimer

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at Oppenheimer from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Oppenheimer's target price suggests a potential upside of 75.11% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on IONS. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.92.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:IONS traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $42.83. The company had a trading volume of 779,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,180,684. The company has a quick ratio of 5.83, a current ratio of 5.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $45.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.52. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $34.32 and a one year high of $54.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of -16.73 and a beta of 0.39.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.78) by $0.72. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 46.32% and a negative return on equity of 90.29%. The business had revenue of $325.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.37) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 113.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.50, for a total value of $428,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 38,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,042,095. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Onaiza Cadoret-Manier sold 5,564 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.42, for a total transaction of $280,536.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,704,700.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.50, for a total transaction of $428,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 38,170 shares in the company, valued at $2,042,095. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 101,734 shares of company stock valued at $5,152,226 over the last 90 days. 2.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $29,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. 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.