Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Given “Buy” Rating at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $95.00 price objective on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $43.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.71.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $62.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a current ratio of 2.87. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $64.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $48.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.83. The firm has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.01 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.25% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The firm had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.45) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 76,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.97, for a total value of $4,685,544.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $344,785.35. This represents a 93.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.91, for a total transaction of $1,018,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 66,344 shares in the company, valued at $3,377,573.04. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 492,841 shares of company stock valued at $28,595,925 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $60,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 151.3% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.