Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $60.00 price target on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Wolfe Research raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, William Blair reissued an outperform rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $59.54.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ IONS traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,527,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,121,470. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a PE ratio of -15.69 and a beta of 0.41. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $34.79 and a twelve month high of $54.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18, a quick ratio of 5.83 and a current ratio of 5.90. The stock's 50 day moving average is $42.86 and its 200-day moving average is $46.92.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.98) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 90.29% and a negative net margin of 46.32%. The business had revenue of $119.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.87) EPS. The firm's revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total transaction of $256,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $698,137.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total transaction of $256,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $698,137.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $166,649.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $816,649.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,393 shares of company stock worth $440,127. Company insiders own 2.65% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 162.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,616,978 shares of the company's stock worth $233,573,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856,353 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $59,288,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,399,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 154.5% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 655,371 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,728,000 after acquiring an additional 397,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $18,068,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

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.