Brokerages Set Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Target Price at $84.15

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $84.15.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $59.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.9%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $81.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.51 and a beta of 0.33. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.86. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $82.95.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $156.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.75 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 203,814 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total transaction of $12,294,060.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 180,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,858,142.88. The trade was a 53.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 33,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $2,055,563.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,570 shares in the company, valued at $6,157,173.40. This trade represents a 25.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 854,159 shares of company stock valued at $56,402,037 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $44,000. 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.