Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Leerink Partners Analyst Says

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at Leerink Partners from $122.00 to $129.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Leerink Partners’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 64.94% from the company’s previous close.

IONS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $111.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.2%

IONS stock traded up $1.69 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $78.21. 844,508 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,045,941. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $39.37 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.35. The company has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.81 and a beta of 0.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The business had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.93) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.27, for a total value of $381,350.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 51,344 shares in the company, valued at $3,916,006.88. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.41, for a total transaction of $4,466,704.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,458 shares in the company, valued at $1,648,641.78. This represents a 73.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 93,914 shares of company stock valued at $6,941,424. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,686,000 after acquiring an additional 274,310 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,895,000 after buying an additional 39,794 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $220,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 47.8% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.