The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target to $45.00

Key Points

• The Goldman Sachs Group increased Ionis Pharmaceuticals' price target from $40.00 to $45.00, maintaining a "sell" rating despite the new target suggesting a potential downside of 25.94% from the current stock price.
• Other analysts, including BMO Capital Markets and Barclays, issued upgrades with target prices ranging from $70.00 to $96.00, indicating a consensus target price of $66.31.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals' stock rose by 5.7% on Wednesday, trading at $60.76, and the company reported a significant earnings beat with revenues up 100.9% year-over-year.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $40.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "sell" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's target price suggests a potential downside of 25.94% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $83.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.31.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 5.7%

NASDAQ IONS traded up $3.27 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $60.76. 4,262,931 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,863,607. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $23.95 and a 12 month high of $62.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $9.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.16 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.45) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.93, for a total transaction of $209,650.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 86,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,620,403.92. This trade represents a 5.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,432 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $109,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 179,820 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,091,900. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,568 shares of company stock worth $1,705,296 in the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 840,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,376,000 after purchasing an additional 97,367 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 7,555 shares of the company's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 821,200 shares of the company's stock worth $28,709,000 after purchasing an additional 54,300 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 63,877 shares of the company's stock worth $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 4,900 shares during the period. Finally, J. Goldman & Co LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP now owns 607,499 shares of the company's stock worth $21,238,000 after buying an additional 88,883 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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