Leerink Partners Issues Positive Forecast for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Price

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price target raised by Leerink Partners from $102.00 to $104.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on IONS. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $78.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.99 billion, a PE ratio of -32.24 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a current ratio of 3.83. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 68.82% and a negative net margin of 40.36%.The company had revenue of $203.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.66) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 15,642 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.76, for a total transaction of $1,278,889.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 32,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,624,904.80. This trade represents a 32.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.72, for a total value of $413,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 56,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,660,775.68. The trade was a 8.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 436,579 shares of company stock worth $35,367,233. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,161.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 214,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,004,000 after purchasing an additional 208,346 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 5,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 147,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,639,000 after acquiring an additional 13,312 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 is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.