Barclays Initiates Coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)

Equities research analysts at Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.26% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Leerink Partners increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.45.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of IONS stock opened at $83.88 on Wednesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $86.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.59 billion, a PE ratio of -49.63 and a beta of 0.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $80.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.35. The company had revenue of $156.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.75 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 44.26% and a negative net margin of 26.45%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 44,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.82, for a total value of $3,294,623.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 224,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,810,782.06. This trade represents a 16.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 9,884 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.34, for a total transaction of $744,660.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 41,935 shares in the company, valued at $3,159,382.90. This represents a 19.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 277,891 shares of company stock valued at $21,730,823 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.60% 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. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $215,000. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,340,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $17,790,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 66.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 862,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,431,000 after purchasing an additional 343,409 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,669.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,430,000 after buying an additional 294,643 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.