Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Upgraded at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $45.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on IONS. StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 31st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.79.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 8.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $27.77 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $31.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.80. The stock has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.13 and a beta of 0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $52.34. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. The business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $234,937.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,499,802.80. This represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 8,870 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.81, for a total transaction of $291,024.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,539,706.85. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439 in the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $107,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.