Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target Raised to $111.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its target price increased by Bank of America from $100.00 to $111.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $75.17 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $77.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.81. The company has a market capitalization of $12.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.81 and a beta of 0.40. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $26.30 and a 1-year high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The business had revenue of $203.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.66) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 126,670 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total value of $9,525,584.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 242,662 shares in the company, valued at $18,248,182.40. The trade was a 34.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 54,878 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.35, for a total value of $4,354,569.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at $302,402.85. The trade was a 93.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 974,413 shares of company stock worth $75,333,995. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.