Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives $100.90 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $101.80.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $74.12 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $74.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.47. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $36.45 and a twelve month high of $86.74. The stock has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.81 and a beta of 0.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.93) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.41, for a total value of $4,466,704.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,458 shares in the company, valued at $1,648,641.78. The trade was a 73.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 4,902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.17, for a total transaction of $368,483.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,713 shares in the company, valued at $1,782,506.21. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 93,914 shares of company stock worth $6,941,424 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,686,000 after purchasing an additional 274,310 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 39,794 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 47.8% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. 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.