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

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $50.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 25.00% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.59.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS stock opened at $40.00 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 9.62 and a current ratio of 9.66. The stock has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a PE ratio of -13.38 and a beta of 0.18. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.07) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $132.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.31 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 91.85% and a negative net margin of 63.65%. The business’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.98) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 15,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $31.86 per share, with a total value of $477,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. This represents a 42.59% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,880,000 after buying an additional 1,416,781 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,175,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,006,334 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,637,041 shares in the last quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,494,000 after purchasing an additional 492,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,687,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,976,000 after purchasing an additional 18,890 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.