Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Rating Upgraded by SVB Leerink

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) was upgraded by investment analysts at SVB Leerink from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $62.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $53.00. SVB Leerink’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.55% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on IONS. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.18.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.2 %

IONS stock opened at $51.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.42 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.55. 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 52 week low of $35.95 and a 52 week high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.98) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 49.49% and a negative return on equity of 107.64%. The company had revenue of $119.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.87) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,300. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Pingora Partners LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. 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.