Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $53.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 7.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $34.34 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.91. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $34.24 and a 52-week high of $54.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.75. The firm has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.07 and a beta of 0.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total value of $45,276.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,278,396.96. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total value of $252,271.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 167,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,369,303.65. This represents a 3.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,197 shares of company stock valued at $315,310 over the last ninety days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 35.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.