Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on IONS. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. William Blair reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, September 27th. Citigroup raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and boosted their target price for the company from $33.00 to $52.00 in a report on Monday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $48.23.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.5 %

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $47.04 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a PE ratio of -16.39 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.06, a current ratio of 6.39 and a quick ratio of 6.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $44.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.65. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $32.69 and a 1-year high of $48.75.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 4,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.50, for a total transaction of $207,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,057,561. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 4,460 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.50, for a total value of $207,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,057,561. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.13, for a total value of $451,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 82,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,727,196.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,282 shares of company stock worth $834,603 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.1% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 29.6% during the second quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently 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.