Citigroup Boosts Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target to $69.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Citigroup from $65.00 to $69.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 61.63% from the stock’s previous close.

IONS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.85.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of IONS opened at $42.69 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $50.43. The company has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a PE ratio of -23.20 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 45.29% and a negative net margin of 28.25%.The business had revenue of $452.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.90 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.45) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,432 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 179,820 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through this link. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,549 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.80, for a total value of $408,697.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,204,499.60. This trade represents a 15.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,141 shares of company stock worth $1,644,606 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,175,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,006,334 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% in the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,724,400 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,891,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,245,000 after acquiring an additional 48,141 shares in the last quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,494,000 after acquiring an additional 492,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BVF Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $57,727,000. 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.