Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target Raised to $48.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $45.00 to $48.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 34.87% from the stock’s previous close.

IONS has been the topic of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.83.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of IONS opened at $35.59 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $52.34. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.71 and a beta of 0.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $31.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.91.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.07) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $132.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.31 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.98) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $31.86 per share, for a total transaction of $477,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 50,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. The trade was a 42.59% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416,781 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,175,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,006,334 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,831,000 after buying an additional 3,637,041 shares in the last quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,494,000 after purchasing an additional 492,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,687,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,976,000 after buying an additional 18,890 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.