Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Now Covered by Redburn Atlantic

Investment analysts at Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) in a report released on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic’s price target indicates a potential upside of 25.20% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on IONS. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $31.15 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $32.53 and its 200 day moving average is $35.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of -10.25 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $30.23 and a 1 year high of $52.34. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $1,091,310.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,396 shares in the company, valued at $6,767,331.48. This represents a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,819,525.75. This trade represents a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,637,041 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $59,948,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $575,880,000 after buying an additional 1,416,781 shares during the period. Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $20,801,000. Finally, Orbimed Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,494,000 after acquiring an additional 492,900 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.