Canaccord Genuity Group Upgrades Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) to Strong-Buy

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) was upgraded by research analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on IONS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Leerink Partners upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ IONS traded down $0.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $74.71. 232,859 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,164,119. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $28.79 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.34 billion, a PE ratio of -30.71 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.17.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $203.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.07 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.66) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -4.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total value of $7,056,430.77. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 80,293 shares in the company, valued at $6,658,698.49. The trade was a 51.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 126,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total transaction of $9,525,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 242,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,248,182.40. This represents a 34.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 868,132 shares of company stock valued at $67,343,911. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,686,000 after acquiring an additional 274,310 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,895,000 after acquiring an additional 39,794 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 47.8% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by 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.