Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Now Covered by Analysts at Redburn Atlantic

Equities researchers at Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) in a research note issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic’s price objective points to a potential upside of 25.20% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $31.15 on Monday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $30.23 and a one year high of $52.34. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.25 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $32.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.70.

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

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total transaction of $39,046.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,819,525.75. The trade was a 2.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total value of $234,937.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,499,802.80. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 12.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 308,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,376,000 after buying an additional 34,097 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $2,096,000. Finally, Baker BROS. Advisors LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $8,952,000. 93.86% of the stock is 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.