TD Cowen Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its target price raised by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from $59.00 to $99.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. TD Cowen’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 33.24% from the company’s current price.

IONS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $89.00 target price (up from $85.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.05.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $74.30 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $63.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.53. The company has a market capitalization of $11.84 billion, a PE ratio of -43.96 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $75.49.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by $0.35. The business had revenue of $157.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.75 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 45.29% and a negative net margin of 26.45%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total transaction of $358,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 61,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,400,818.56. This represents a 7.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 13,441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.74, for a total value of $937,375.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 53,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,758,218.86. This trade represents a 19.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 787,770 shares of company stock worth $48,429,221 over the last ninety days. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 620.2% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $88,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently 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.