Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) Competitors

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) and Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, community ranking, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability, media sentiment and risk.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of IONS or BIIB?

93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.9% of Biogen shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.6% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Biogen shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor IONS or BIIB?

In the previous week, Biogen had 19 more articles in the media than Ionis Pharmaceuticals. MarketBeat recorded 32 mentions for Biogen and 13 mentions for Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Biogen's average media sentiment score of 1.28 beat Ionis Pharmaceuticals' score of 1.12 indicating that Biogen is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Biogen	24 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, IONS or BIIB?

Biogen has higher revenue and earnings than Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Ionis Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Biogen, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	$717.25M	7.43	-$366.29M	-$2.99	-11.20
Biogen	$9.82B	1.89	$1.63B	$10.13	12.52

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer IONS or BIIB?

Biogen received 1116 more outperform votes than Ionis Pharmaceuticals when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.28% of users gave Biogen an outperform vote while only 60.46% of users gave Ionis Pharmaceuticals an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	Outperform Votes 708 60.46%	Underperform Votes 463 39.54%
Biogen	Outperform Votes 1824 71.28%	Underperform Votes 735 28.72%

Is IONS or BIIB more profitable?

Biogen has a net margin of 16.87% compared to Ionis Pharmaceuticals' net margin of -64.25%. Biogen's return on equity of 14.98% beat Ionis Pharmaceuticals' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	-64.25%	-100.05%	-15.70%
Biogen	16.87%	14.98%	8.76%

Which has more volatility & risk, IONS or BIIB?

Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.15, indicating that its stock price is 85% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Biogen has a beta of 0.12, indicating that its stock price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend IONS or BIIB?

Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus target price of $56.67, indicating a potential upside of 69.15%. Biogen has a consensus target price of $191.30, indicating a potential upside of 50.84%. Given Ionis Pharmaceuticals' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Ionis Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Biogen.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.65
Biogen	0 Sell rating(s)	20 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.38

Summary

Biogen beats Ionis Pharmaceuticals on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.