Analysts Set Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target at $86.19

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, seventeen have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.1905.

IONS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $59.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.9%

IONS stock opened at $79.93 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $83.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.47. The stock has a market cap of $12.95 billion, a PE ratio of -47.30 and a beta of 0.29.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 44.26%. The firm had revenue of $156.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.95) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 49,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.26, for a total transaction of $3,249,948.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 110,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,211,230. This trade represents a 31.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 16,777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.91, for a total value of $1,357,427.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,494 shares in the company, valued at $1,415,439.54. This represents a 48.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 494,393 shares of company stock valued at $35,068,839. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors 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.