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

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 46.93% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on IONS. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS opened at $34.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.42 billion, a PE ratio of -11.19 and a beta of 0.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $30.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.14. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.07) by $0.14. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The firm had revenue of $132.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.98) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $31.86 per share, with a total value of $477,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 50,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. This represents a 42.59% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,819,525.75. This represents a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,027 shares of company stock worth $62,863 over the last three months. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,961,000 after acquiring an additional 128,619 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 222.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 16,508 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 33,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,170,000 after purchasing an additional 5,359 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 401,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,028,000 after buying an additional 98,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,617,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.