Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $60.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target suggests a potential upside of 88.62% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on IONS. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.4 %

IONS opened at $31.81 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $30.23 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.50. The company has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of -13.04 and a beta of 0.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.58% and a negative return on equity of 88.98%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 8,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.81, for a total value of $291,024.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,885 shares in the company, valued at $3,539,706.85. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total transaction of $1,229,380.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares in the company, valued at $5,718,616.95. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,609 shares of company stock valued at $3,564,867. Insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.