Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Now Covered by Analysts at Barclays

Barclays began coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) in a report issued on Wednesday morning. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on IONS. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. HC Wainwright increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.45.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $81.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.81. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $86.15. The company has a market cap of $13.27 billion, a PE ratio of -48.47 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $156.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.75 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 44.26% and a negative net margin of 26.45%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.95) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.59, for a total transaction of $703,138.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 63,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,829,445.10. This trade represents a 12.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 9,884 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.34, for a total transaction of $744,660.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 41,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,159,382.90. This trade represents a 19.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 378,340 shares of company stock valued at $29,276,108. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,722,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $832,321,000 after buying an additional 182,540 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,724,400 shares during the period. Tweedy Browne Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the third quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,901,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,798,000 after acquiring an additional 9,268 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 48,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,771,000 after purchasing an additional 899,476 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.