Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Upgraded at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $74.83 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.15. The company has a quick ratio of 3.81, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $28.79 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The firm has a market cap of $12.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.67 and a beta of 0.40.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $156.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.66) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -4.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 5,812 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.97, for a total transaction of $412,477.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 63,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,273.30. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Birchler sold 973 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $73,013.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,065,200. This represents a 1.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 864,155 shares of company stock valued at $67,020,422 in the last quarter. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $38,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.