Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by William Blair

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at William Blair in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, RTT News reports.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on IONS. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.92.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS traded up $0.59 during midday trading 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 5.90 and a quick ratio of 5.83. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $45.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.73 and a beta of 0.39. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $34.32 and a one year high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $325.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.01 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.37) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 113.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 32,059 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.42, for a total value of $1,616,414.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 154,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,771,537.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,285 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.75, for a total value of $118,248.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,858,289.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 32,059 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.42, for a total transaction of $1,616,414.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,771,537.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 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 company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,242,307 shares of the company's stock worth $56,351,000 after buying an additional 43,087 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 183,349 shares of the company's stock worth $8,317,000 after buying an additional 78,724 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $9,329,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 113.3% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 41,571 shares of the company's stock worth $1,886,000 after buying an additional 22,078 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 154.5% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 655,371 shares of the company's stock worth $29,728,000 after buying an additional 397,897 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is 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.