Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Expected to Announce Earnings of -$0.62 Per Share

Analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS – Get Rating) will announce earnings per share of ($0.64) for the current quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Eight analysts have issued estimates for Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ earnings. The highest EPS estimate is ($0.30) and the lowest is ($0.75). Ionis Pharmaceuticals posted earnings of ($0.57) per share during the same quarter last year, which would suggest a negative year-over-year growth rate of 12.3%. The firm is expected to report its next quarterly earnings report on Monday, January 1st.

On average, analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will report full year earnings of ($2.44) per share for the current fiscal year, with EPS estimates ranging from ($2.91) to ($1.59). For the next fiscal year, analysts anticipate that the company will post earnings of ($1.91) per share, with EPS estimates ranging from ($2.79) to $0.02. Zacks Investment Research’s earnings per share calculations are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side analysts that cover Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 4th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $142.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.46 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 0.36% and a negative return on equity of 0.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.64) earnings per share.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $31.00 to $33.00 in a report on Thursday. Bank of America lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 1st. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, February 28th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.35.

Shares of IONS stock traded down $1.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $36.30. 942,664 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,092,101. The company has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -181.49 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 9.75, a quick ratio of 9.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.22 and its 200 day moving average is $33.40. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $25.04 and a 1 year high of $44.42.

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,792 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.06, for a total transaction of $272,087.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,383,512.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,525 shares of company stock worth $302,085. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 473.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,392,000 after buying an additional 1,340,284 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 10,355,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,106,000 after buying an additional 1,007,197 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $25,294,000. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $19,246,000. Finally, Camber Capital Management LP boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Camber Capital Management LP now owns 2,500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,850,000 after buying an additional 500,000 shares during the period. 95.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile (Get Rating)

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 injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, a treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome and familial partial lipodystrophy.

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