Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $77.76 and last traded at $77.5680, with a volume of 338181 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $76.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONS has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $49.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $83.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.8%

The stock has a market cap of $12.67 billion, a PE ratio of -46.22 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a current ratio of 2.87. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $69.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.29.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph H. Wender sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $841,792.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 64,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,812,870.60. The trade was a 14.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total transaction of $358,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 61,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,400,818.56. The trade was a 7.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 913,362 shares of company stock worth $59,015,008. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.