Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target for Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $80.00, indicating a potential upside of 32.73% from the previous close.
• Wells Fargo and HC Wainwright also increased their price targets for Ionis, with the latter setting a target of $95.00, showcasing strong analyst support for the stock.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported a significant 100.9% year-over-year revenue increase, with earnings per share of $0.70, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.19.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price points to a potential upside of 32.73% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $43.00 price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.88.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.4%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $60.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a current ratio of 2.87. The firm's 50-day moving average is $42.83 and its 200-day moving average is $35.94. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $62.08. The company has a market cap of $9.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.80 and a beta of 0.28.

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. The business had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $270.90 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 45.29% and a negative net margin of 28.25%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.45) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total transaction of $439,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 93,466 shares in the company, valued at $4,110,634.68. This represents a 9.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,549 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.80, for a total value of $408,697.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,204,499.60. This represents a 15.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,568 shares of company stock worth $1,705,296 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 151.3% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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