Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $25.52 and last traded at $25.79, with a volume of 101201 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on IONS. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.70.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.79 and a beta of 0.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $32.05 and its 200-day moving average is $35.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The company had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.97 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 down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total value of $194,937.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,452 shares in the company, valued at $1,816,632.24. The trade was a 9.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $763,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 68,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,405,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.