Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target to $53.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its target price lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $50.00 to $53.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the stock.

IONS has been the subject of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. William Blair reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Wolfe Research raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $58.64.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $47.66 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a PE ratio of -17.85 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 7.28, a current ratio of 7.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $35.95 and a twelve month high of $54.44. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.85.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.98) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 107.64% and a negative net margin of 49.49%. The firm had revenue of $119.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.42 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.87) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total transaction of $256,260.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $698,137.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total value of $256,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $698,137.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total value of $166,649.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $816,649.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Pingora Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $44,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.