Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Rating Lowered by BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note published on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $60.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $67.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a buy rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $60.68.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS stock traded up $0.01 on Friday, reaching $47.01. 885,557 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,219,084. The company has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.71 and a beta of 0.40. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $35.95 and a 1 year high of $54.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $44.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15, a quick ratio of 7.28 and a current ratio of 7.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.90% and a negative return on equity of 109.65%. The firm had revenue of $225.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at $817,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Candriam S.C.A. raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 948,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,192,000 after buying an additional 36,369 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 36,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,750,000 after buying an additional 1,235 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.1% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 952,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,409,000 after purchasing an additional 54,400 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Privium Fund Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Privium Fund Management B.V. now owns 247,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,162,000 after purchasing an additional 20,274 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.