Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ (IONS) “Peer Perform” Rating Reiterated at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research reaffirmed their peer perform rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on IONS. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup reduced their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.05.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock opened at $54.39 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.28 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $40.03 and a 52-week high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.93) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total transaction of $4,029,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 245,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,790,566.89. This trade represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.30, for a total transaction of $30,516.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,096 shares in the company, valued at $1,862,692.80. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.