Leerink Partners Increases Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target to $104.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Leerink Partners from $102.00 to $104.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Leerink Partners’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 30.90% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $79.45 on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $86.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.56 and a beta of 0.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $81.29 and its 200 day moving average is $72.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.81.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The firm had revenue of $203.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.66) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total value of $7,056,430.77. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 80,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,658,698.49. This represents a 51.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 44,199 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.08, for a total value of $3,760,450.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,488,389.52. The trade was a 71.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 436,579 shares of company stock valued at $35,367,233. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 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.