Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on IONS. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS stock traded down $1.35 on Tuesday, reaching $32.95. The stock had a trading volume of 1,014,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,409,015. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $32.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.84 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $30.23 and a 12 month high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The business’s revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,819,525.75. This trade represents a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.31, for a total value of $44,167.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,551,429.27. This represents a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 in the last ninety days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% during 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. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.