Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $62.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $55.00.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on IONS. Barclays upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.38.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $43.03 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.13. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $50.43. The firm has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.39 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 9.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.45) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,432 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 179,820 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,091,900. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is 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.